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PAUL AT EPHESUS. 



BY WILLIAM A. ALCOTT. 



Written for the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, and 
revised by the Committee of Publication. 



BOSTON: 

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, 

Depository, No. 13 Cornhill. 

1346. 



"2 S 2j SO 6 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, 

By CHRISTOPHER C. DEAN, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



PREFACE. 



Some may be apprehensive, prior to an examina- 
tion, that the author of the following volume, has 
attempted to be wise above what is written, — a thing 
so frequently, but so weakly, not tosay wickedly, 
attempted. 

But I trust a careful perusal of the whole, will 
remove every apprehension, and dispel every fear. 
If I have succeeded in giving instruction at all, it is 
because I have only attempted to be wise according 
to " what is written." I have acted in the capacity 
of an interpreter of what had been already written, 
rather than in that of an originator. 

My object has been to write, in a style which 

would be intelligible to children, what would be 

worth their reading. Puerility, whether of style or 

thought, has not been attempted, but rather avoided, 

as not adapted at all, to the wants, either of the 

family or the Sabbath school. 
1# 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page. 
Paul's Journey to Ephesus 11 

CHAPTER II. 
Description of Ephesus 22 

CHAPTER III. 
Paul's first Labors at Ephesus 29 

CHAPTER IV. 
Three months in the Synagogue 33 

CHAPTER V. 
Two years in the School of Tyrannus. ... 41 

CHAPTER VI. 
Paul's Miracles at Ephesus and his other labors. 49 

CHAPTER VII. 
Burning of the Ephesian Books 57 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Paul prepares to Visit Europe 78 

CHAPTER IX. 
Intrigues of Demetrius 84 

CHAPTER X. 
The Mob and its Consequences 90 

CHAPTER XI. 
Interference of the Town Clerk 103 

CHAPTER XII. 
Paul Departs for Europe 108 

CHAPTER XIII. 
His Travels in Macedonia 123 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Three Months in Greece 128 

CHAPTER XV. 
Sets out on his Return 131 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Remarkable Incident at Troas 137 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Voyage as far as Ephesus 154 

CHAPTER XVIII, 
Meeting at Miletus 164 

CHAPTER XIX: 
The Farewell 170 

CHAPTER XX. 
Return to Jerusalem. , 179 



PAUL AT EPHESUS. 

4 -m • ♦ ► -. . . ■ 

CHAPTER I. 

PAUL'S JOURNEY TO EPHESUS. 

Fifty-four years after the birth of our 
Saviour, and something more than twenty- 
years after his death, we find the apostle 
Paul at Antioch, in Syria, making prepara- 
tion for a missionary tour. Whither is he 
going ) Who are the favored people of the 
earth that are to receive his visits, hear his 
words, behold his miracles, and perhaps, 
too, witness his persecutions? 

For we must already know that Paul 
was a great traveler. Born in Tarsus, in 
Cilicia, he had been sent to Jerusalem, and 
perhaps to Alexandria, to complete his edu- 



12 Paul's journey to ephesus. 

cation ; after which, having become a per- 
secutor of the Christians, we find him going 
in pursuit of them to distant cities and 
countries, and among others to Damascus. 

In this tour to Damascus he was con- 
verted to Christianity, after which he trav- 
eled three years in Arabia. Returning to 
Damascus, he was persecuted there, by his 
brethren, the Jews, upon which he fled to 
Jerusalem. Persecuted there also, he fled 
to Cesarea, and finally to Tarsus, his na- 
tive city. 

But he did not remain long at Tarsus. 
Christian laborers being greatly needed at 
Antioch, Barnabas went to Tarsus and 
sought out Paul and secured his services. 
From Antioch he was sent on important 
business, once or twice to Jerusalem. 

Meanwhile there began to be a demand 
for missionaries of the new religion in Asia 
Minor ; and the church at Antioch selected 
Paul and Barnabas for this purpose, who 
went there and traveled up and down the 
country, through its principal cities. On 
their way thither, they went over the 



13 



island of Cyprus. John Mark traveled with 
them through Cyprus, but afterward re- 
turned to Jerusalem. 

Sometime after Paul's return to Antioch 5 
he was sent again to Jerusalem. Returning 
to Antioch, he and Silas were deputed to 
visit and preach in Asia Minor. Having 
spent a considerable time there, and having 
as it were, again explored the country from 
one end of it to the other, their steps were 
directed to south-eastern Europe. Timothy 
and Luke went with them. 

Here, in Macedonia and Greece, they 
traveled and labored several years. Thence 
they returned by water to Palestine, stop- 
ping a day or so at Ephesus, and landing 
at Cesarea. From Cesarea Paul went to 
Jerusalem, from which place, without much 
delay, he went to Antioch, where we now 
find him preparing for his new mission. 

This is to Asia Minor. Though he had 
already been twice through the length and 
breadth of the country, it was deemed 
advisable to have him go there once more. 
He was needed to confirm and strengthen 
2 



14 Paul's journey to ephesus. 

the churches, in that region, now become 
considerably numerous. 

Asia Minor was a large country north- 
westward of Palestine and Syria. The 
Black Sea and the Propontis were on its 
north ; the Mediterranean Sea, under differ- 
ent names for the different parts of it, on the 
west and south. Indeed there was a point 
of it extending out to the northeast, between 
Syria and Asia Minor, so far as to make 
the latter almost an island. 

This country was called, in general, Asia ; 
though the name Asia, or perhaps Lesser 
Asia, was given more frequently, to a 
small portion of it, lying along the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. The name of Asia Minor is 
not known in the Bible. 

The country now called Asia Minor, but 
then called Asia, was usually divided into 
the following provinces. Bithynia, Pontus, 
Galatia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Pamphylia, 
Pisidia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, Mysia, Troas, 
Lydia, Caria, Doris and Lydia. There 
may have been a few other smaller divis- 
ions, but these fifteen were the most import- 



Paul's journey to ephesus. 15 

ant. There were also different divisions in 
other periods of the world's history. 

This was the region to which the great 
Apostle was now going, and going too, 
alone. I mention the last fact, because 
before this time, he had usually gone out 
with associates. There was less necessity 
of associates now, because there were so 
many persons there with whom he must 
have been acquainted. Perhaps, too, he 
expected aid from Timothy, who is gener- 
ally supposed to have been at this time in 
the country, either at Lystra, his birth- 
place, or Ephesus. 

In going from Antioch in Asia Minor, he 
would naturally pass first through Cilicia, 
his native province, and perhaps through 
Tarsus, the city in which he was born. 
Would he stop there to visit his friends? 
He was by no means destitute of filial 
affection, or of love for the place of his 
nativity. Though an apostle, he was yet 
a man, and had all the feelings of a man. 

We cannot say, of course, whether he 
made much stay in Tarsus, nor is it im- 



16 Paul's journey to ephesus. 

portant. He had other friends in the coun- 
try, besides his relatives. Timothy, his 
son in the faith of Christianity, was there; 
and so were Aquila and Priscilla. But 
these were not all. As with our Saviour, 
so with Paul ; whosoever did the will of 
his father in heaven — and there were such 
in Asia Minor in considerable numbers — 
the same was his brother, and sister, and 
mother. 

Paul's great business, in other words, 
was to preach the gospel of Christ, and to 
preach it where he could do the most good. 
He had no time for idle visits, nor but little 
for visits to relatives and friends, much as 
these may have been desirable. 

We soon find him in Phrygia, a province 
north-westward of Cilicia. Here and in 
Galatia, which joined it on the north, he 
spent a considerable time; for Luke, the 
writer of the Acts of the Apostles, says, 
"He went over all the country of Galatia 
and Phrygia, in order, strengthening all the 
disciples." 

It was in this very region and in the 



Paul's journey to ephesus. 17 

region adjoining — the province of Lycaonia 
— that in his two former excursions he had 
labored most, and been most persecuted. 
Here were Antioch, and Iconium, and 
Derbe, and Lystra. Here too, was the 
church of Galatia, to which he afterward 
wrote his letter, or epistle; and also the 
church of Colosse. 

How long time it required to go over all 
the country of Galatia and Phrygia, it is not 
easy to conjecture. The whole country of 
Asia Minor was probably about four times 
as large as New England ; and Galatia and 
Phrygia were among its largest provinces. 
They must have been — both of them united 
— at least as large as Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island. 

We must remember, however, that to go 
through a country in those days, was a 
very different thing from going through a 
country among us, Then, the inhabitants 
were chiefly to be found in cities and 
villages, and not as with us, scattered over 
the intermediate country. In truth there 
are many parts of Europe, even now, in 
2* 



18 Paul's journey to ephesus. 

which you will find few people, except in 
cities and villages. 

When it is said of our Saviour, several 
times, that he went throughout all Galilee 
preaching and working miracles, those 
who have read the statement of Josephus, 
and others, that Galilee contained at this 
time a very dense population, have won- 
dered what it could mean. For it would 
take a very long time to go through New 
England and New York, at the present 
time; and yet Galilee in Christ's time, small 
as it was, contained nearly as great a popu- 
lation as both these do now. 

But then, the population of Galilee was 
confined very much to cities and villages, 
and these lay chiefly along the public roads. 
Josephus says that Galilee contained over 
200 cities and villages, none of which had 
a smaller population than 15,000. This 
alone would be from 3,000,000 to 4,000,009. 

Something so was it with Galatia and 
Phrygia, in Paul's time. To go through 
all the country, was simply to pass over a 
few public roads and visit some scores, or 



19 



it maybe some hundreds of cities. I know 
this is a considerable work : bat not like 
going over so large a country among us. 
1 Besides, it is hardly likely that there 
were churches thus early in every city and 
village of these provinces. How this was, 
it is true, is mere conjecture. The language 
of the narrator of the " Acts,*' is such as to 
justify the belief that they were somewhat 
numerous ; but we do not know how nu- 
merous. 

Among the principal cities of ancient 
Galatia were Ancyra, Pressinus, Tavium, 
and Germa. Ancyra is believed to have 
been on the same spot with the modern 
Angora, whence are brought some of our 
most beautiful shawls. They are made 
from the hair of its goats, which resembles 
silk for fineness. 

The chief cities of Phrygia were Apamea, 
Hierapolis, Colosse, Laodicea, Cibyra, Syn- 
nada and Gordium. Some of these cities 
were considerably large. One of the seven 
churches, mentioned by John, in his Reve- 



20 



lation — that of Laodicea — was situated in 
the western part of this province. 

It is impossible to conceive of it other- 
wise than to suppose that the arrival of 
Paul in these provinces, was hailed with 
great joy, by all the churches. Whether 
they were established by Paul, Peter, or 
some other person, they would greatly need 
supervision and perhaps correction. If 
they were planted by Paul, however, the 
excitement induced by his arrival among 
them, would be greater than in other cir- 
cumstances. They would look up to him, 
as in many respects, their spiritual father. 

Some have supposed that when it is said 
of Paul and others, that they went through 
the churches encouraging, strengthening, or 
confirming them, the modern rite of con- 
firmation was attended to. They have 
thought so, in particular, when the word 
confirm has been used, as when we are told 
that Paul u went through Syria and Cilicia 
confirming the churches." 

Now I suppose this is an utter mistake. 
If I believed in the necessity of this mod- 



Paul's journey to ephesus. 21 



era rite of confirmation, I could never be 
brought to believe that it was referred to 
in these places. The word confirm, as 
here used, most unquestionably, means to 
strengthen or establish, and nothing more. 

How greatly would it thus confirm new 
and often feeble churches, in those luxuri- 
ous and wicked countries, to have such a 
man as Paul make them a familiar and 
friendly visit! He would be to them, almost 
like an angel of light. They would feel as 
if they could hardly do too much for him. 

But the provinces of Galatia and Phrygia 
were not the only objects of the apostle in 
this visit. Having gone over them, he pro- 
ceeded westward, and in due time reached 
Ephesus. Here he remained. 



22 DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 



CHAPTER II. 

DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 

Before proceeding any farther with the 
account of Paul's mission to this part of 
Asia, it will be necessary to describe briefly 
the city of Ephesus, to which Paul had 
now arrived. 

Ephesus was in the province of Lydia, 
40 miles southward of Smyrna. It stood 
on the river Cayoter, at its junction with 
the Mediterranean Sea, and had a western 
aspect. It was remarkable both for its 
beauty and its wealth. Its population was 
considerable, but it is not known how great. 

This famous city is said to have been 
founded by an Amazon lady, who gave it 
her own name. This was about the time 
of David and Solomon. Having a spacious 
and convenient harbor, it soon became the 



DESCRIPTION OF EPHESTJS. 23 



greatest place of trade in all that part of the 
world. 

Though often destroyed in war, or by 
fire, or earthquake, it was as often rebuilt; 
sometimes in its original splendor. When 
Paul visited it, it had just been rebuilt, and 
with greater splendor than ever before. It 
was now at the full height of its glory. 

What added greatly to the renown of 
Ephesus, in those days, was its immense 
temple — called the temple of Diana. Such 
was the size of this temple and so great its 
splendor, that it was usually reckoned one 
of the seven great wonders of the world. 

Its length was 425 feet; and its breadth 
200. It was supported by 127 pillars, 60 
feet high. Each pillar, with its base, was 
estimated to weigh 150 tons. These pil- 
lars moreover, were of the best Parian mar- 
ble. They were the workmanship of as 
many different princes, and twenty-seven 
of them were curiously and beautifully 
wrought. 

The doors and paneling of this mighty 
temple — larger, by far, than that of Solomon 



24 DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 

at Jerusalem — were made of cypress wood, 
polished and shining; and the staircase of 
vine wood. It was decorated internally at 
great expense, and contained many statues 
and paintings, some of which were the 
most perfect of all antiquity. 

This temple was served by priests and 
virgins, who professed great purity and 
sanctity. Being selected from the higher 
class of the citizens, they enjoyed an am- 
ple revenue, with many special privileges, 
besides being enriched by presents from the 
crowd of worshipers who came there to the 
yearly festivals. 

This mighty temple was regarded by the 
Ephesians as a species of asylum, to which 
if a criminal fled, he was safe. Its limits, 
as such, were at first only extended to a 
furlong; but subsequently were made to 
embrace the whole city. But the Roman 
emperor, Tiberias, put an end to all this, in 
a decree which declared that no person 
guilty of any wicked or dishonest action, 
should escape justice by flying to this 
temple, even if he laid hold of the very 
altar itself. 



DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 



25 




In addition to this temple of Diana, there 
was at Ephesus, a statue of the goddess 
Diana herself. It was made of wood, and 
was richly dressed. Each hand was sup- 
ported by a bar of precious metal, probably 
gold. A vail hanging from the ceiling of 
the temple concealed the idol, except during 
their religious services or worship. 
3 



26 DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 

The temple of Diana is said to have 
employed laborers in its construction from 
all parts of Asia Minor ; and to have been, 
in the first instance, two hundred years in 
building. And yet the last time it was re- 
built, and with greater splendor than ever, 
it took but a very few years. This was in 
the year of our Lord 19 ; about twenty 
years before it was first visited by Christ- 
ians. 

It is perhaps worthy of remark, that this 
temple was partially burnt by an incendi- 
ary on the very day in which Socrates was 
poisoned, or four hundred years before 
Christ; and again by the philosopher Her- 
ostratus, three hundred and fifty-six years 
before Christ, on the day in which Alexan- 
der the Great was born. Herostratus con- 
fessed, on being put to the torture, that the 
only motive he had in burning it was to 
immortalize his name ! 

I must be allowed to pause, here, to re- 
mind the reader of a better way of immor- 
talizing himself, as well as a simpler one. 
We are all desirous of immortality, just as 



DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 27 

this heathen philosopher was ; but we do 
not all take exactly the same method of 
securing it. Still we are apt to take the 
wrong way. Our Saviour has pointed out 
the only true way, that is the way of per- 
sonal holiness. 

The temple of Diana was finally de- 
stroyed, never to be rebuilt, in the year of 
our Lord 260. After this the city itself 
passed away. At present, there is not a 
house or an inhabitant in it. Near the 
ancient site of it, is a miserable village of 
mud cottages, with about a dozen small 
square brick buildings inhabited by some 
forty or fifty wretched Turkish families. 

Even the very streets of Ephesus are in 
ruins. A traveler remarks concerning it; 
" A herd of goats was driven to it for shelter 
from the rays of the sun at noon ; and a 
noisy flight of crows from the quarries, 
screamed to insult its silence. We heard 
the partridge in the area of the theatre of 
the stadium." 

When Paul visited Ephesus to plant 
Christianity there, the city then, as I have 



28 DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. 

already said, at the height of its glory, was 
given up to the grossest and most detestable 
vices. Purity was hardly known among 
them. 

What a large measure of faith must it 
require to enable a person to enter such a 
heathen city, in the hope of planting in it 
a new and pure religion ! Yet this large 
faith Paul had ; and in its strength and 
under its influence, no obstacles whatever, 
were to him insurmountable. 



Paul's first labors at efhesus. 29 



CHAPTER III. 

PAUL'S FIRST LABORS AT EPHESUS. 

Paul had stopped at Ephesus, when, in 
company with Silas and Timothy, he was 
returning from his mission to Europe. But 
he had not remained there long, and prob- 
ably had gained no converts. He had, 
however, promised the people of that place 
another visit, and he had now come among 
them to fulfill his promise. 

On his arrival he learned that he had 
been anticipated in some measure, by an- 
other individual. This was Apollos. He 
was a native of Alexandria, in Egypt, and 
well instructed in all the learning of those 
times, as well as greatly eloquent. He was 
especially familiar with the Jewish Script- 
ures. He had also embraced, in part, the 
Christian religion. 
3* 



30 Paul's first labors at ephesus. 



Yet eloquent as he was, mighty in the 
Scriptures, and well and kindly disposed, 
he seems to have been but poorly prepared, 
as yet, to be a missionary. He knew noth- 
ing further than had been taught by John 
the Baptist. If he had heard of the Saviour, 
he had not understood, or at least had not 
believed that he was the Messiah. 

He had, however, undergone some chan- 
ges, after his arrival at Ephesus. For on 
coming there, he found at that city, Aquila, 
and Priscilla, two friends and disciples of 
Paul, who had taken him under their care 
and given him much valuable and needful 
instruction. 

Still he was a very different man from 
Paul, and for some reason or other not well 
adapted to do good among the Ephesians; 
and just before Paul's arrival, had gone into 
Achia, where his labors, as it afterward 
appeared, were much more successful. 

The disciples Apollos had made at Ephe- 
sus, were glad to receive Paul among them; 
and the more so as they had only been bap- 
tized with the baptism of John. They 



paul j s first labors at ephesus. 31 

hardly knew that the Messiah had already- 
come ; but like the rest of the Jews were 
still looking for his appearance. 

They were also ignorant of the influences 
of the Holy Spirit — such as Paul was 
wont to impart, in his intercourse with his 
first disciples. They had not heard, they 
said, whether there was any Holy Ghost. 
They had no power, as yet, to speak with 
tongues, or to work miracles. 

The first thing Paul did was to instruct 
these disciples of Apollos, and baptize them 
in the name of Jesus Christ. There were 
about twelve of them. These as we may 
reasonably believe, with perhaps, Aquila 
and Priscilla, formed the first Christian 
church at Ephesus. 

When they had been properly instructed 
in the way of the Lord Jesus, Paul laid his 
hands on them, and invoked the presence 
and influence of the Holy Spirit, in that 
remarkable manner which had at first been 
witnessed on the day of Pentecost. " The 
Holy Ghost came on them," says the 



32 



sacred record, " and they spake with tongues, 
and prophesied." 

It would seem that, during Paul's first 
visit here, which included one Sabbath, he 
had reasoned with the Jews in the syna- 
gogue, and while some had been partially 
convinced, others as was common, in those 
days, were roused to opposition. 

Both these classes of hearers were likely 
to be present now, whenever Paul addressed 
them ; and on both the gospel was to pro- 
duce its accustomed effects. To the one it 
is a savor of life unto life, to the other of 
death unto death. 

Yet Paul did not shrink from the work 
which God in his Providence had assign- 
ed him. He felt, everywhere, that a neces- 
sity was laid upon him to preach whether 
men would hear or not. He felt as every 
missionary, and indeed every minister 
should; " Wo is me, if I preach not the 
gospel." He expected no doubt to awaken 
opposition. 

It is one thing to pursue a course of con- 
duct which we have reason to believe will 



THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 33 

awaken opposition, and quite another to 
rouse opposition for the mere pleasure of 
rousing it. Paul was opposed, often, but he 
never sought or desired to raise a tumult. 
He was eminently a man of peace. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 

The first three months of Paul's public 
labors at Ephesus, were chiefly, if not 
wholly performed in the Synagogue. For 
we have already seen that there were Jews 
here, as in truth there were in almost every 
large city ; and they had their synagogue. 
Perhaps indeed they had several, but how 
this was, we are not particularly informed. 
It is certainly worthy of remark, that in 
spite of all their prejudices, the Jews of 
every country were more liberal in some 
respects than would at first be expected. It 
was common with them, at the close of 



34 THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 

their religious services, to invite any dis- 
tinguished strangers who were present, to 
make such remarks as they chose. 

Whether they were accustomed to open 
their doors to strangers, except on the Sab- 
bath, is not known ; but the probability is 
that they were not. They regarded their 
synagogues, it is believed, as consecrated 
to the duties and ceremonies of the seventh 
day. 

I have said that Paul labored in the 
Ephesian synagogue. His great business 
here was preaching — proclaiming the doc- 
trines which pertain to the cross of Christ. 
They who desire to have a correct view of 
the manner of Paul's preaching, will do 
well to examine the record of his discourse 
at Antioch, in Pisidia, during his first 
foreign mission.^ 

Not that he always said the very words 
recorded there ; far enough from that. But 
this discourse gives us a general idea of his 
manner of reasoning, especially with his 
own countrymen the Jews ; for with other 



* See First Foreign Mission, p. 53. 



THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 35 

nations he would undoubtedly pursue a 
train of remark quite different. 

Paul not only preached to the Ephesians, 
in the synagogue of the Jews, but preached 
boldly. He was as greatly distinguished for 
his boldness, as for his eloquence. Some of 
his hearers said of him, "That though his 
letters, that is, his epistles, were weighty 
and powerful, his bodily presence was 
weak, and his speech contemptible." But I 
believe it was never said of him by any 
body that he was cowardly or even timid. 
His whole life, as well elsewhere as in 
Ephesus, was a continued testimonial of 
his boldness. 

I think his boldness may have been 
attributable, in some degree, under God, to 
his bodily organization, and native temper- 
ament. Much more of it, however, was, in 
all probability, the effect of Christian prin- 
ciple. It had been learned in the school of 
Christ. 

For who that is at all familiar with the 
Acts of the Apostles, does not know that 
the Apostle John, with as mild a tempera- 



36 THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 

ment as can well be conceived, no sooner 
came under the full influences of the Holy- 
Spirit, and felt the full force of his Divine 
commission, than he was "as bold as a 
lion." He was even greatly so before 
Christ died ; for of all the Apostles, he was 
the only one that dared go and sit with 
him, and be with him, during his trial by 
the Sanhedrim. But he was much more so 
when Peter and he were threatened after- 
ward, and when they boldly answered; 
"We ought to obey God rather than men." 

So it was, in some measure, with Paul. 
He was bold, because his religion taught 
him to be bold. He feared not man, who 
at most could only kill the body; he only 
feared Him who was able to destroy both 
soul and body in hell. 

One source of holy boldness in Paul, at 
least while in Ephesus, may have been a 
view of their idolatrous worship. We are 
expressly told that when at Athens, his 
spirit was stirred within him, to see that 
city wholly given to idolatry. Why should 
not the same spirit be stirred at the idola- 



THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 37 

tries of Ephesus ? They could hardly have 
been less numerous or less abominable than 
those of Athens. 

If there be any thing which will move a 
disciple of Christ to boldness in the cause 
of truth, it must be the sight of an idola- 
trous city, especially a large one. We are 
not informed with regard to the exact size 
of Ephesus at this time : but there is not a 
doubt that it was one of the largest cities of 
Asia. As it was the capital, or metropolis 
of the region in which it stood, and as the 
Roman emperors, some of them, had taken 
great pains to embellish it, this might nat- 
urally be inferred. But we have more than 
conjecture: we have fact. Pliny the his- 
torian, styles it, " the ornament of Asia." 

It is not to be supposed that the temple 
of Diana was the only idolatrous temple in 
Ephesus, though it was doubtless more 
costly than all the rest. There are some- 
times hundreds of these temples in a single 
heathen city. A missionary who resided 
several years in Ava, the capital of the Bir- 
man empire, assures me that so prodigiously 
4 



38 THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 

large was the number of idolatrous temples 
in and about that city, that he never 
thought, during his whole residence there, 
of attempting to count them. 

The expense of these temples is almost 
beyond calculation. We have seen that 
the cost of the temple of Diana, in its ex- 
ternals, must have been immense. The ex- 
pense of their furniture, however, is some- 
times more than that of their outside. One 
of the temples at Ava, has at least five 
hundred gods in it, each of which has its 
altar, and attendants and services. 

The offerings to these gods and goddesses 
— -for the modern heathen, as well as the 
ancient, have both their male and female 
deities — are costly beyond any thing which 
the most active imagination, in a Christian 
country, has ever yet conceived. The of- 
ferings of the wealthy, amount in value, to 
many hundreds of dollars, and these offer- 
ings are numerous and oft repeated. 

In one instance an aged and venerable 
widow lady, with her daughters was seen 
entering a temple at Ava, followed by a 



THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 39 

large retinue of servants, one of whom bore 
in his arms a large tray, in which some 
choice present was evidently deposited. 
This was an offering to one of the gods, 
and was accordingly laid on the altar. In 
due time the parcel was unrolled, and lo, a 
rich shawl, richly wrought, appeared, and 
was spread over the shoulders of the deity, 
to whom it was presented. Besides its first 
expense, which was considerable, the labor 
bestowed upon it, was immense. The 
daughters of the old lady were probably 
employed upon it many months. 

It is stated by those who have had abun- 
dant opportunity to know the facts in the 
case, that some of the heathen nations of 
the east, expend yearly for what they call 
religious purposes, much of which is ex- 
pended on and in their temples, ten times 
as much as is expended by any Christian 
people for literary, scientific, benevolent, 
charitable and religious purposes, all taken 
together. 

Now if the ancient heathen were as ex- 
travagant, in their expenditures, as the 



40 THREE MONTHS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 

moderns are, who could expect any thing 
else than that the spirit of such a man as 
Paul should be stirred within him, both at 
Athens and Ephesus. No wonder he was 
moved to a holy boldness. 

Indeed there is cause for boldness every 
where. You cannot place such a man as 
Paul in the ministerial office, without plac- 
ing him in a condition to see around him in 
every direction, evils enough to move his 
whole soul and spirit to activity, ceaseless 
and fearless. A drone in the ministry there 
may indeed be, but no such man has the 
spirit of Paul, or of Christ. 

The effect of Paul's labors — his boldness 
in his various avocations — was just what 
might have been expected. Some believed 
the things which were spoken and acted 
out — for Paul taught by example, as we 
shall more fully see, by and by, as well as 
by precept — while others, in greater num- 
bers believed not. 

Some were even hardened, and led to di- 
rect and open opposition. This too might 
have been and probably was expected. 



TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 41 

They " spake evil of that way," — the way 
of salvation as developed by Paul — and did 
all they could to impair his influence, and 
diminish his usefulness. 

The consequence was a separation. 
Those who wished to hear farther on the 
subject, withdrew themselves, at Paul's 
suggestion, from the company of the oppo- 
sers 7 and held their meetings in a more 
private place, while the opposition was 
suffered to spend itself on the empty air, if 
it chose to do so; or if otherwise, to die 
away for want of aliment. 



CHAPTER V. 

TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 

After the separation of the disciples of 
Paul from the opposing multitude, the great 
Apostle's instructions were given, we are 
told, in the school of one Tyrannus. 

Who Tyrannus was, cannot now be as- 
certained ; but he was probably a Jew, and 
4* 



42 TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 

one of the more enlightened of the new 
converts to Christianity. We only know of 
him that he kept a school of some sort. It 
may have been a theological school, not 
unlike the old schools of the prophets. 

Hitherto the disciples, as we have already 
seen, met chiefly in the synagogue, and that 
not very frequently either. Now at the 
schooWthe school-room rather — of Tyran- 
nus, they could meet more frequently. 

And here they did daily meet — or at 
least here Paul gave daily instruction. 
Disputing daily in the school of one Tyran- 
nus, is the Scripture language concerning 
it. We had been told before about his dis- 
puting and persuading in the synagogue. 

Some have imbibed the idea — probably 
from reading this and a former passage — 
that Paul was fond of controversy, and 
that here he indulged in it. And I have no 
doubt that many, who love controversial 
disputation, much better than they love 
truth, have, while gratifying their propen- 
sities, sheltered themselves under what they 
verily supposed was the example of Paul. 



TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 43 

This translation, therefore, may be con- 
sidered unfortunate, since it does not con- 
vey the exact idea which it was designed, 
by the spirit of inspiration, it should convey. 
No wiser or better men, I dare say, could 
have been selected for translators, * than 
those which were selected. And yet in this 
respect there has doubtless been a failure, 
or rather an imperfection. 

I do not mean to say that Paul was not 
fond of controversy; for this may have 
been the case. All I say is that we cannot 
prove that he was so, by the language of 
inspiration in these passages. And if he 
was so, in reality, he seldom appears to 
have indulged in it. 

Barnes in his " Notes," speaks as if Paul 
and the disciples were driven away from 
the synagogue, after having met there three 
months. But I do not see how we can infer 
this with any certainty. He, that is Paul, 



* The translation of the Bible was made several 
hundred years ago, by a large number of the most 
learned men that could be found in England. 



44 TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 

departed from the opposition, and separated 
the disciples. 

This place of meeting was held two 
years. Whether we are to infer that they 
assembled every day, for this whole time. 
may be a little doubtful ; and yet when we 
consider well the whole matter, we shall be 
apt to think that as a general fact, they 
did so. 

For we should remember, in the first 
place, what was done elsewhere, in the be- 
ginning of Christianity. Of Peter and John 
we are told expressly, that " daily in the 
temple, and from house to house, they 
ceased not to teach, and to preach Jesus 
Christ." And still earlier than this, imme- 
diately after the descent of the Holy Spirit 
at Pentecost, we find it recorded of the 
newly converted multitude, that they gave 
themselves up to the habit of daily divine 
worship. 

We should also remember — for it is still 
more to our present purpose — what Paul 
himself says of these same labors, some 
time afterward. Addressing himself to the 



TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 45 

elders of the Ephesian church, then assem- 
bled at Miletus, he tells them, that during 
the whole time he was with them — almost 
three years — he ceased not to warn them 
" night and day," with tears. He also told 
them, that from the first day after his arri- 
val among them, he was with them " at all 
seasons." 

When we take these things, therefore, 
into careful consideration, are we not justi- 
fied in the conclusion, that during the whole 
period of Paul's labors, to which these re- 
marks refer, he held religious meetings, and 
preached the gospel, as a general rule, 
every day ? 

This conclusion would aid us in account- 
ing for the wonderful success which is 
mentioned as the result of these labors. It 
is said, " this continued by the space of two 
years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia, 
heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and 
Greeks." I have marked the word so, in 
the above quotation ; but otherwise it stands 
as in the original. 

Surely the labors of Paul must have been 



46 TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 

immense, during these two years, in order 
to have the word of God reach all Asia. 
For though by the word Asia is meant here 
no more than what was called, sometimes, 
the Lesser Asia, consisting of a narrow 
strip of country in the west, and including 
only the provinces of Troas, Mysia, Lydia, 
Caria and Doris, yet even this small spot 
contained a large population. 

These provinces embraced, besides the 
great city of Ephesus the capital, the cities 
of Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Philadel- 
phia, Sardis, Laodicea, Miletus, and Co- 
losse. In addition to which was a great 
number of smaller places, scattered among 
these. What the population was, cannot of 
course be conjectured ; but it must have 
been considerable. 

In truth it contained, what was called, 
in those days, a dense population, and was 
spread over a territory equal to that of the 
State of Massachusetts. Nor should I be 
surprised to know that it contained as great 
a population, or almost a million. 

Now I say again, that it was no light 



TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 47 

matter for a single laborer to spread the 
gospel, in about three years, over the whole 
of such a region. True it is, that Aquila 
and Priscilla, and other laborers may have 
helped him. And yet in the state of things 
which then existed, he must have had the 
control — the oversight even — of the whole. 

Our wonder is increased at the results of 
Paul's two or three years' labor here, when 
we consider that he had not the facilities 
for spreading the gospel which we now 
have. 

For then there was nothing to facilitate 
the inter-communication of the people, 
which will bear the slightest comparison 
for a moment with our stage-coaches, and 
post-roads, and post-offices. Besides, the 
people were not at all in the habit, either of 
traveling, or writing many letters. 

Then, too, they had no newspapers, or 
journals, and but few books. To crown 
all, the people had very little desire to know 
more, either about themselves or others. At 
Athens, to be sure, Paul had found a dif- 
ferent state of things. There was a set of 



48 TWO YEARS IN THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 

men, who spent their time in hearing the 
news. 

But it was not so in Asia. The people 
there were ignorant, and worse than all, 
given up to their appetites and lusts. How 
utterly impossible does it seem, to bring the 
gospel to the ears of a million or so of peo- 
ple, scattered through some ten, or twenty, 
or fifty cities, in the short space of about 
three years ! 

For my own part I cannot avoid the con- 
clusion that Paul labored as he says he did, 
and that he is to be understood literally. I 
have no doubt that he spent his days and 
nights — save what was wanted for needful 
rest and eating — in warning the people with 
tears ; and that he labored in season, and 
out of season, willing to spend, and be spent 
in the service of his Divine Master. 

He not only taught publicly, in the 
school-room, but from house to house. He 
was a pastor, as well as a preacher. This 
was one secret of his success. He was with 
the people much, and therefore knew how 
to gain access to them. 



Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 49 

One thing should be noticed. As Ephe- 
sus was the capital of Asia, there would of 
course, be people there often, from every 
part of the adjoining provinces. Some 
would come from mere curiosity; many 
more for religious purposes; but a far 
greater number for the sake of trade and 
commerce. The news of his preaching 
there, and of his miracles, would thus be 
soon spread all over that region, and doubt- 
less to many other countries. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PAUL'S MIRACLES AT EPHESUS* AND HIS OTHER 
LABORS, 

The miracles of Paul, and perhaps those of 
his disciples, on whom the Holy Ghost had 
been poured out at his first arrival, had an 
effect most undoubtedly in spreading the 
new doctrines through the length and 
breadth of the land. Perhaps, after all, this 
was to the first Christians, what our print- 
5 



50 Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 

ing presses, and post-offices, and books are 
to Christians in our own day and time. 

Paul's miracles were the more efficient, at 
least in his circumstances, from the fact 
that the subjects of them were not in every 
instance required to be present. They were 
often healed at a considerable distance from 
Ephesus, perhaps a hundred miles or so. 

This was certainly a little peculiar, and 
not only peculiar but striking. How was 
it accomplished ? Were the sick cured by 
the faith of others i Or was it on their own 
faith, communicated to Paul verbally or by 
letter ? 

The method was as follows : When the 
distant sick wished to be restored, and 
could not come forward in person, they 
were permitted by Paul to send a pocket 
handkerchief, or an apron, or any other con- 
venient small garment. These, after having 
been brought in contact with Paul's body, 
were carried back to the sick, upon which 
they were immediately restored. 

Not that the garment used had any virtue 
in itself, to bring about a cure ; for it had 



51 



not. Paul's word, in behalf of the distant 
sick, or maimed, might have had the same 
effect, had God so ordained. But he did not 
so ordain it. He ordained the very method 
Paul adopted, and no other would at the 
time have succeeded. 

Among the other miracles he wrought, 
was that of casting out evil spirits — the 
same with that which the Saviour had so 
frequently wrought in his day, in Palestine; 
as well as the twelve apostles and others in 
their travels and labors. 

While Paul was thus preaching and 
working miracles at Ephesus, some wand- 
ering Jews came along, who professed to 
have the power, like Paul, and the disciples 
of Christ, to cast out devils. They used 
charms or incantations for this purpose, at 
the same time adjuring the evil spirit in the 
name of God — which was a species of oath 
— to leave the person it had possessed. 

How successful they had been, in their 
efforts, either at Ephesus or elsewhere, does 
not appear. There were seven of these 
exorcists together there, all brothers, and 



52 Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 

sons of one Sceva, a Jewish priest. Some 
have supposed from the fact that he is call- 
ed chief of the priests, that he was a high 
priest, but this is not at all probable. 

Finding Paul at Ephesus casting out 
devils in the name of Jesus, these sons of 
Sceva undertook to practice their incanta- 
tions in the same name. u We adjure, 
you," they said, "by Jesus, whom Paul 
preacheth." 

But their scheme did not succeed. The 
spirits would not obey them. On the con- 
trary, as if enraged at the attempt, the man 
in whom the evil spirit was, resisted them, 
questioning their authority, &c. ; and at 
last leaped upon them, and overcame them, 
so that they fled out of the house, naked 
and wounded. 

This truly remarkable circumstance 
tended not a little to the spread of Paul's 
fame, and the advancement of the cause in 
which he was laboring. For it was impos- 
sible to conceal it, had such concealment 
been desirable. It was known everywhere 
in Ephesus, and that immediately. They 



Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 53 

that heard of it, moreover, were excited 
and led by it to fear God, and to regard 
with more attention and respect the doc- 
trines, and especially the genuine and ac- 
knowledged miracles of one who was so 
eminently and obviously his favored ser- 
vant. 

It may not be easy to imagine how it 
was that, in conjunction with all his other 
duties at Ephesus, Paul could find time to 
labor much with his hands. And yet, in 
his address, already referred to, we find 
him saying to the elders of Ephesus : " Ye 
yourselves know that these hands have 
ministered unto my necessities, and to them 
which were with me." And again, he said, 
" I have showed you all things, how that 
so laboring ye ought to support the weak, 
and to remember the words of the Lord 
Jesus, how he said, " It is more blessed to 
give than to receive."' 

Hence it appears most clearly and unde- 
niably, that Paul did labor with his hands 
for his own support, while at Ephesus. 
Whether he wrought at his trade, that of 
5* 



54 Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 

tent making, may be doubtful, and yet if 
Aquila and Priscilla, who were of the same 
craft, continued in the city, nothing would 
be more natural. But even if he did not 
use his hands at tent making, he could use 
them at something else, as farming, or gar- 
dening, or fishing. 

It is a noble trait in Paul, the great Apos- 
tle of the Gentiles, that though gifted by 
nature with high intellectual powers, and 
these cultivated in the best schools which 
Tarsus and Jerusalem at that time afforded, 
he did not consider himself demeaned by 
labor, but was willing, in preference to bur- 
dening others, to support himself by his 
own efforts. 

I grant, most cheerfully, that the Ephe- 
sians, among whom he labored, if they 
were not absolutely poor, were neither wise 
nor generous in permitting him to spend 
much time in labor, unless indeed, his 
health required that particular form of ex- 
ercise. It is a great waste, for such a man 
as Paul to spend himself beyond what the 
strict laws of health require, in those efforts 



Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 55 

which other hands, not employed, could 
make just about as well as he. But then 
if the community around, are not wise 
enough to perceive the waste, and prevent 
it, the fault is not so much with him who 
wastes the talent, as with those who by 
furnishing him with food, raiment, &c, 
while he labors, should prevent it. 

But Paul had learned, most effectually, 
the great lesson which he himself speaks of 
and to which he alludes, when he quotes, 
as a maxim of our Saviour, "It is more 
blessed to give than to receive." He had 
learned to prefer others to himself, so far at 
least, as to be more willing to labor both to 
support himself and them, than to have 
them feel as if, being weaker, they were 
compelled to support him, while he was 
stronger and abler than themselves. 

That which surprises me most, is, not 
the fact that he labored, for I do not won- # 
der at any thing but the shortsightedness 
of his people, whenever I see a minister 
laboring for his own support, and the sup- 
port of his family, — but that, while com- 



56 Paul's miracles at ephesus, &c. 

pelled to labor, to aid in supporting him- 
self and some of his really weak breth- 
ren, he could be able to accomplish so much 
other work. 

Paul, however, was in earnest. He had 
put his hand to the plough, and it was not 
for him to look back, as though he desired 
to quit it. He never went backward. His 
motto was, Onward — onward in the path 
of duty, whithersoever it might lead him, 
to life or to death. 

Hear his own declaration to one of the 
churches, for which he had labored and 
was still laboring, — that at Corinth, " For 
I am determined to know nothing among 
you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 
And again, on another occasion, and to 
another church, the Philippians, he says, 
" For to me to live is Christ, and to die is 
gain." 

p Hence his success, so far as his success 
was attributable to human effort. His sin- 
gleness of heart enabled him to do a mighty 
work, and to do it well. Whether he was 
preaching the cross, working miracles, or 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 57 

making tents, he had a single eye to the 
glory of God. He made every thing to bear 
upon this one point, its effect on the cause 
of Christ. Such a man could not only say, 
" I have coveted no man's gold, silver, or ap- 
parel ;" but also, "I take you to record this 
day that I am pure from the blood of all 
men ; for I have not shunned to declare 
unto you all the counsel of God." 



CHAPTER VII. 

BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

Nothing had drawn the public attention at 
Ephesus, to Paul, so much as the defeat 
and dispersion of the brotherhood of vaga- 
bond Jewish exorcists, spoken of in a pre- 
vious chapter. Everywhere, as I have 
already shown, the matter was talked over; 
and everywhere it brought the great Apostle 
into favorable notice. I mean it brought 
him into favorable notice as a man of tal- 
ents ; as a mighty man ; as a man of power. 



58 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

Everywhere, moreover. — and this is a 
fact of much more importance — was the 
name of the Lord Jesus magnified by it. 
The number of believers at Ephesus greatly 
increased, and those that believed mani- 
fested the sincerity of their repentance and 
faith by an entire reformation of life. The 
following is the account given of these 
happy results. 

" The name of the Lord Jesus was mag- 
nified. And many that believed, came and 
confessed, and showed their deeds. Many 
also of them which used curious arts 
brought their books together, and burned 
them before all men ; and they counted 
the price of them, and found it fifty thou- 
sand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the 
word of God and prevailed." 

We will notice a little more particularly 
the confession of these believers ; their cu- 
rious arts ; what they were contained in ; 
what was the value of these books ; and 
the propriety of their burning them. 

1. Their confessions. One of the first 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 59 

evidences of a charge of heart, before God, 
is a readiness to confess past sins. I do not 
say a mere readiness to confess them before 
men, for the principal thing, after all, is to 
confess to God. Whoso confesses and for- 
sakes his sins, shall find mercy. 

It is said of Zacheus, that as soon as his 
heart was turned toward God, he began to 
make confessions to his Divine Master. 
Notices of confessions of this sort are not 
at all unfrequent in the Bible ; and they 
occur in every day life, and in every age 
and country. 

When the East India chief — sometimes 
called the Karen apostle — had become con- 
verted to God. he was full of confessions. 
It is said by those who knew him well, that 
he never afterward began a public prayer 
without confessing, in the deepest apparent 
sorrow, that he had once been a robber and 
a murderer. 

It is indeed true that some persons are 
ready to make confessions, who will not 
forsake their sins. They may indeed seem 
to be sorry for sin, when they confess ; but, 



60 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

if they knew the depths of their own de- 
pravity, they are ready to confess their sins 
to get rid of inward anguish, and forebod- 
ings about the future. 

Such as this last, no doubt, were the con- 
fessions of Ahab, and of Judas. Ahab 
humbled himself, but he did not reform his 
life. So Judas, though he said, "I have 
sinned," and then cast down the money, 
which reminded him of his guilt, went 
away and committed another sin, that of 
hanging himself. What then, became of 
his confessions ? What of those of Ahab? 

These converts at Ephesus, however, 
gave proof of the sincerity of their confes- 
sions, by not only showing their deeds, but 
abandoning them. This was as it should 
be. Herein was the evidence, that they 
confessed their sins before God, and that of 
course, they found mercy. 

2. Their curious arts. These, among 
ignorant and wicked nations, are various. 
One of those which prevailed among the 
Ephesians has been alluded to. I refer to 
the incantations used by the Jewish exor- 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 61 

cists. It appears that there were traveling 
or wandering bands of these exorcists, as 
there are traveling bands of people fre- 
quently seen among us, for purposes little 
better. 

There were also sorcerers, or jugglers, in 
those days, and they had great power over 
the people. Thus Simon the sorcerer, who 
was at Samaria, when Philip the deacon 
went there to preach, soon after Pentecost, 
had obtained an almost unbounded influ- 
ence over the minds of that illiterate peo- 
ple. " To whom they all gave heed,*' says 
the record, " from the least to the greatest, 
saying, this man is the great power of 
God." 

Some of these curious arts, it is pre- 
sumed, consisted in mere fortune telling. 
This, though not very public now-a-days, 
still finds a place, in most of our larger 
cities. There are those who profess to 
know something of the past and the future, 
by looking at the stars; by looking at or 
through a stone, or by examining the 
6 



62 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

grounds of tea, in the bottom of the tea 
cup, &c. 

Among eastern nations, in ancient times, 
it was most common, I believe, either to 
look at the entrails of animals, or to make 
believe they could read human destiny in 
the stars. This last art was sometimes 
called astrology. 

No people were ever more ready to be 
duped by these curious arts, especially in 
their application to the sick, than the na- 
tives of our own New England. There is 
somewhere the story of their manner of 
treating one of their chiefs who was sick, 
and the account is enough to astonish a 
person ; whether he considers the knavery 
of those who practice such things, or the 
readiness of the mass of mankind to be 
duped by them. 

In some instances, both in ancient and 
modern times, those who use curious arts, 
really perform things for which it is diffi- 
cult to account, on any known principles of 
science. In such cases it is supposed they 
have aid from the prince of darkness. More 



BURNING THE EPHESTAN BOOKS. C3 

generally, however, it is mere sleight of 
hand or cunning, or downright pretence. 

But there was one curious art, it would 
seem, practiced at Ephesus, which was pe- 
culiar to the Ephesians. This was the art 
of producing incantations and charms, by- 
means of certain letters, called in after 
time, the Ephesian letters. These Ephe- 
sian letters are alluded to by Plutarch, 
Erasmus, Clemens Alexandrinus, and 
others. 

They appear to have consisted of certain 
combinations of letters or words, which 
being pronounced in a certain manner, with 
certain intonations of voice, were believed 
to have a magical — sometimes an exorcis- 
ing effect. The word Abracadabra has 
been used in other nations and times for 
purposes not dissimilar. 

One ancient writer, in speaking of the 
Ephesian letters, says, "that in the wars 
between the Milesians and Ephesians, the 
latter were thirteen times saved from ruin 
by the use of these letters/'' He also says, 
" that they were advantageously used by 



64 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

Croesus, the rich king of Lydia, when on 
the funeral pile." 

3. Their books. These explained their 
arts ; so it is supposed by most writers. Or 
what is to me much more likely to be true, 
they professed to explain them. They 
probably contained their magical words, if 
nothing more ; — I mean the famous Ephe- 
sian letters. 




The reader must remember what books 
were in those days. They were not bound 
volumes like ours, but mere rolls of parch- 
ment. Nor were they printed books, but 
written ones. Of course books must have 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 65 

been very costly, and not very numerous, 
in those days. 

Their method of closing a book, was to 
roll up the strips of parchment, of which it 
was composed. When they read, they be- 
gan at one end, and unrolled with one 
hand, as fast as was needful, and rolled up 
again with the other. They wrote from 
the right hand to the left, as the Persians, 
Chinese, &c. now do. 

How common it is with fortune tellers 
now, to have books, I am not certain; but 
I know well that some of them have quite 
a library. One with whom I was well ac- 
quainted — for I was brought up within 
about a mile of her — possessed a large 
number of books, which her friends sup- 
posed contained the secrets of her art. The 
old lady herself, encouraged this belief. In 
later life, I borrowed these books, and found 
they were merely a collection of strange 
romances — some of them, moreover, as silly 
as they were strange. 

4 Value of these Books. How numer- 
ous the books which contained the Ephe- 
6* 



66 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

sian letters were, does not appear. All we 
know is the estimated value of what were 
brought together and burnt. It is highly 
probable that none brought their books to 
the pile, but those whose hearts were 
touched; but the Scripture does not ex- 
pressly say this. 

The worth of those which were burnt 
was estimated at, or counted at fifty thou- 
sand pieces of silver. But our first difficulty 
in this matter, is, that we do not know with 
certainty, what pieces were meant here. 
There were various sorts of pieces of silver 
used for money at Ephesus, at that period. 

One sort was the Jewish shekel. This 
was worth about fifty-five cents. The 
Grecian and Roman pieces of silver were of 
less value. The Attic drachm was worth 
about seventeen cents of our money, or nine 
pence sterling. 

If the pieces spoken of in connection 
with the destruction of the Ephesian books, 
were the last mentioned, their value was 
about eight thousand five hundred dollars. 
If it was the Jewish shekel, it was not far 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 67 

from twenty-seven thousand dollars. If it 
was a Grecian or Roman coin, the aggre- 
gate value would be somewhat between. 

It should be remembered, however, that 
a dollar, at that time, was worth a great 
deal more — because it would buy a great 
deal more — than now. It is usually said to 
have been worth about ten times as much 
as now. But if so, the books burned, being 
worth fifty thousand Attic drachms, should 
be considered by us as worth about eighty- 
five thousand dollars. If the Jewish shekel 
was meant, their value would have been 
about two hundred and seventy -five thou- 
sand dollars. 

In either, or any case, the sum was con- 
siderable, especially when we recollect who 
the owners of the books probably were. 
For the most part they were the poor. 
Some indeed, may have gained wealth by 
their curious arts, but not as I apprehend, 
very many. Such ways of getting a liveli- 
hood, are so much opposed to the plan of 
God in his government of this world, that 



68 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

it is scarcely possible for those who practice 
them to be prosperous. 

In our own country, and times, none but 
the poor, so far as I know, pretend to for- 
tune-telling. I have known them obtain 
money rapidly for a short time ; but some- 
how or other, it does not last. There is a 
vulgar maxim among us, which asserts 
this. 

We must remember one thing more, in 
passing ; which is, that the value of these 
books, as it was estimated, was not their 
intrinsic or real value ; nor even their value 
when compared in size, &c., with other 
books. It was their value rather as books 
of incantation or sorcery. Some particular 
book, for example, not larger than those 
which were usually valued at ten pieces of 
silver, would be valued, on account of the 
curious arts it contained, at fifty pieces, or 
a hundred. 

5. Burning these Books. When I be- 
gan to read the New Testament, I never 
read of the burning of these Ephesian books 
without feelings of regret. How could it be 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 69 

right, I said to myself, to waste so much 
property ? — to throw into the fire as it were 
fifty thousand pieces of silver ! And others, 
I doubt not — some, it may be, who are 
much older than I then was — have had 
similar thoughts and feelings. 

But let us look at the matter, a few mo- 
ments. We have seen that the value set 
upon the books, was not their real intrinsic 
value after all; but rather a nominal value. 
Now if that alone were reckoned as prop- 
erty, which is truly valuable, many things 
in this world upon which a high price is 
now set, would be seen to be of very little 
worth. 

The truth is that property of every kind 
ought to be estimated as far as is possible, 
in the light in which God estimates it. His 
standard of value is, and must be, from the 
very nature of the case, according to truth. 
And he values all things without doubt, 
according to their real tendency to advance 
his glory. 

Now let us think a little, as well as we 
may, how the Creator and Lord of all, in 



70 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

looking down from his holy throne in the 
heavens, would value some of the things of 
this earth ; that we may be able to see how 
his estimate would compare with our own. 

First, then, in the scale of true riches, as 
it appears to me, would be placed air and 
water. The importance of these to life and 
health, is so exceedingly obvious, that we 
cannot doubt, I am sure, in regard to the 
Creator's estimate of these things. 

Next perhaps, in point of importance, 
would be the plainer, more substantial kinds 
of clothing and aliment. For man must 
eat, drink, breathe, and be comfortable, in 
regard to temperature, in order to begin to 
fulfill the great Creator's purpose — in order 
to be a rational being. I do not say that 
the more refined dishes of food, and sorts of 
drink would not have some value in the 
Creator's sight, for they probably would 
have. But this value would not be as with 
us, greater in proportion to the labor be- 
stowed on them, by torturing them with 
fire, and by the various methods of chang- 
ing them which an over-refinement has 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 71 

made customary, and to most persons de- 
sirable. On the contrary, it would be less. 

Thus the Creator would set a very high 
value, as I have said, on water; — simple, 
unadulterated, unchanged water. But man, 
while he would hardly value it at one mill 
a gallon, changes it by a little chemical 
effort, and the admixture of certain alkalies 
and acids, into soda water, and sells it per- 
haps, for twenty-five cents a gallon, or 
even fifty. 

So the Divine valuation of simple bread, 
must be very much higher than that of any 
of the finer preparations as they are called, 
into which bread or the flour or meal from 
which it is made, may be metamorphosed. 
Yet man by his arts of refinement, and 
without adding at all to the nutritious prop- 
erties thereof, will change a mass of flour 
or meal, equal to that which forms a loaf 
of bread, into such forms and shapes as will 
make it sell for five, ten, or twenty times 
as much as the simpler loaf of bread. 

Now in these cases, and in a thousand 
others of similar general character, which 



72 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

is the true valuation, that of God, or that 
of man ? Which is really worth the most, 
the gallon of pure water which costs less 
than a cent, and the loaf of bread which 
costs six cents, or the gallon of soda water, 
which sells at twenty-five or fifty cents, 
and the mass of refined and double refined 
pastry, which sells at one or two dollars ? 
— I speak here, however, of the use of 
these last for every day eating and drink- 
ing, and not for medicinal purposes. 

On the other hand, the Creator, sitting on 
his throne, in the highest heavens, cannot 
I am sure, attach much importance to the 
diamond, because it cannot add much to 
human happiness, and his own glory. It 
may indeed, be worth something, with him; 
for brought out of the mine and polished, it 
is beautiful — nay it is even useful to some 
extent in the arts. But it cannot be so use- 
ful — not a thousandth part as useful, as 
many things which men have valued much 
lower. 

The largest diamond in the world weighs 
something more than a pound, troy, and is 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 73 

in the hands of one of the kings of Europe. 
The price set upon it, is so enormous, that 
if it were reckoned in dollars — American 
coin — and if the money in dollars were 
loaded into wagons carrying a ton each, 
and those wagons distributed along some 
public road, each occupying a distance of 
two rods, the line of wagons would reach 
about forty miles. 

Now though it would be an evil to lose 
such a diamond, could the loss be compared 
for one moment, with the loss of even one 
wagon load of grain, or one puncheon of 
pure water ? We know best the real value of 
these last, by considering the case of those 
who, like sailors and soldiers, are some- 
times put on very small allowance. 

These considerations may serve to show 
us how it is that the real loss at Ephesus, 
from burning the books was, after all, es- 
pecially in the Creator's estimate — in that 
of Paul, too, as he does not complain of it 
— very trifling. The estimate mentioned in 
the New Testament, was doubtless made by 
interested men. Luke the narrator, says; 
7 



74 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

"they" counted the price of the books. 
He does not say, that he or Paul did it. 
He does not say even that a judicious com- 
mittee from among the Ephesians them- 
selves did it. But he says they did it; 
perhaps some individual, after all, who 
greatly exaggerated, in order to bring blame 
upon Paul, for being the indirect cause of it. 
Another consideration deserves our re- 
gard. The loss, if it were really a loss, 
would be greatly divided. One burns one 
book, another two, another three : a few of 
them, perhaps a larger number, and so on. 
Still more. While they were practicing 
curious arts, they added nothing to the real 
wealth or well-being of the community, 
except in so far as they really saved valu- 
able lives, by their incantations and charms. 
Whence then did they derive the means of 
their support — their food, clothing, shelter, 
&c. ? Was it not from the labor of others ? 
But now that they left off their juggling, 
they would probably go to work at some 
useful employment, and become producers, 
as well as consumers. 



BURNING THE EPHESTAN BOOKS. 75 

I might illustrate the subject still farther 
by a comparison with the rum drinker. 
Now suppose a large community to be in 
the use of ardent spirits, and to have it in 
their houses. Suppose this community 
should suddenly become convinced that its 
use was wrong, and should determine to 
pour it out into the deep. One pours out a 
quart, another two quarts, another a gallon, 
another perhaps, many gallons. The ag- 
gregate value of the property thus wasted, 
as we might at first be tempted to call it, is 
estimated, we will say, at eight thousand, 
five hundred dollars ; and this for a whole 
city, like Boston, or New Orleans, and with 
the pretty certain prospect that these rum 
drinkers, instead of spending their time in 
idleness, would now go to work at some 
useful employment ! Who will say one 
word about the loss ? Who will even ven- 
ture to say that there is any real loss to 
society, after all ? 

Something like this, as I humbly con- 
ceive, was the state of the case at Ephesus. 
The value of the books was, in itself con- 



76 BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 

sidered, a matter of importance ; but then 
the worth of the time which was saved to 
the city by their destruction, was of so 
much more consequence, that we forget the 
value of the books. 

I would not however, remove from the 
minds of men who should thus destroy 
property, the idea that there was a real 
loss. For the feeling that they had made a 
sacrifice, in this way, for the sake of prin- 
ciple, would rouse them to new energy, 
and activity in business — partly to recover 
the loss thus sustained, but partly to show 
to the world around them that they could 
be as industrious and useful in the new 
circumstances, as in the old ones. For we 
must not forget — and I trust the young 
converts at Ephesus did not — that we live 
not only for ourselves, but for others. The 
story of burning the books, will be told in 
all the world, wherever the Bible is carried, 
and will have its influence on millions, and 
hundreds of millions. As a beacon to oth- 
ers, merely so — to warn them against such 
foolish practices as those in which these 



BURNING THE EPHESIAN BOOKS. 77 

Ephesians had been engaged — it will be 
worth much more to the world than eight 
thousand, five hundred dollars, or even 
twenty-seven thousand, five hundred dol- 
lars. But it will also lead thousands, it is 
hoped, to do what they know to be right, 
without asking as the first question, u What 
will it cost?'' 1 

But we have not yet adverted to the im- 
mediate effect which the burning of the 
Ephesian books had on the cause of Christ, 
in that vicinity. The sacred historian, 
after relating the story, adds ; " So mightily 
grew the word of God, and prevailed. 7 ' He 
is speaking, however, of the success of 
Christianity as a cause, and not as an effect. 
The effects of the burning will be seen in 
the next chapter but one. 



7* 



78 PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE> 

It was stated in a former chapter, that Paul 
had already been once in Europe. He had 
seen a vision, while at Troas, a city in the 
northeast part of Asia Minor, in which he 
was urged to go over the strait of water 
which divides Europe from Asia, and 
preach in Macedonia. 

He had accordingly visited the cities of 
Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Appollonia, 
Thessalonica, and Berea in Macedonia ; 
and in] some of those places, especially 
Philippi and Thessalonica, had met with 
many difficulties, and encountered many 
dangers. 

He had also gone from Macedonia to 
Greece, and after stopping for a short time 
in Athens, had passed on to Corinth, and 
spent nearly two years in that place and its 
vicinity ; where as we find afterward, he 



PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE. 79 

was the means of accomplishing much 
good. 

In this long journey he had been accom- 
panied by Luke, Silas, and Timothy, to 
Philippi, where Luke had been left. Silas 
and Timothy had gone with him to Berea, 
and thence sometime after Paul's departure, 
had followed him to Athens, and perhaps 
to Corinth. From Greece they had sailed 
for Palestine, by way of Ephesus and 
Cesarea. 

Paul therefore, in projecting a second 
journey into Europe, would not feel as if he 
were going among none but strangers. He 
had many friends in all the places he had 
formerly visited, as well as a few in places 
adjacent to those which he had never ac- 
tually visited. He was known in many a 
village and city, both in Asia and Europe, 
which he had never seen, and which had 
never seen him. I mean he was known to 
them by his reputation. 

In any event a second journey to Europe 
was now talked of. Perhaps he had labored 
beyond his strength in Ephesus, and needed 
a change of labor. Some among us there 



80 PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE. 

are, who do not believe in the necessity, as 
a general rule, of changing ministers ; and 
yet there are cases which certainly seem to 
require it. There are men who will do 
more in this way; and there may be a period 
in the history of almost any civilized com- 
munity, when these changes seem to be de- 
manded, by the condition of society. They 
may have been demanded at Ephesus. 

But there was another reason for change 
at Ephesus — a reason which would not 
exist often, in our times. Paul was a re- 
markable man ; and more remarkable as a 
foreign missionary than in any other situa- 
tion. There was no individual in his day, 
who could do half as much abroad as Paul 
could; while there were probably several 
others, who could do nearly, if not quite as 
much at home, as he could. 

We may form some idea of the peculiar 
fitness of Paul for the work of a foreign 
missionary, by a recurrence to his plan of 
movement at the time of which I am now 
speaking. " Paul purposed in spirit/ 5 says 
the narrator, " when he had passed through 
Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusa- 



PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE. 81 

lem, saying, " After I have been there I 
must also see Rome." 

Now think of this great Apostle, for a 
moment. He was now, it is believed, nearly 
fifty years of age. He had lived as it were 
two lives, already. One a doubtful, not to 
say worthless one, in being educated to 
Pharisaism, and in persecuting the Christ- 
ians ; the other in traveling,' and laboring 
with head, hands, and heart, for Christianity, 
and in laboring too with a zeal which has 
ever astonished the world. Now he is in 
Arabia ; now in Jerusalem ; now in Syria ; 
now in Asia Minor ; and now in Europe. 
Now he is working miracles ; now he is 
preaching ; now he is in prison — perhaps in 
close confinement ; now he is beaten by the 
soldiery ; now he is mobbed and taken up 
for dead, and now he is shipwrecked. 

And yet despite of all this we find him, 
as resolutely as ever, making arrangements 
to go to Macedonia, and Greece, thence 
back again to Jerusalem, and thence to 
Rome ; — a journey of many thousand miles. 
We must keep in mind, also, that a journey 
of a thousand miles, in those days, was 



82 PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE. 

equal at least to one of ten thousand at the 
present time, with our steam-boats and rail- 
roads. Yet, I still say, Paul seems not to 
think of distance at all ; any more than if 
it were nothing. 

In view, now, of the condition of the 
world in Paul's days and with the com- 
mand of the Saviour — "Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature;" think we Paul could content 
himself to sit down and remain at Ephesus, 
or Antioch, or at any particular spot, even 
though his labors were ever so much 
needed ] Was he not, in short, made for a 
traveling missionary, and did he not know 
what was his own proper sphere of action? 

But the time had not yet fully come for 
him to depart. Meanwhile he sent before 
him two of his most faithful fellow laborers, 
Timothy and Erastus. These individuals 
were to go through the various parts of 
Macedonia and Greece, which Paul and 
Timothy had before visited in company, 
and prepare the way for Paul's arrival. 

The choice was a most happy one. Tim- 
othy was a younger man than Paul, ex- 



PAUL PREPARES TO VISIT EUROPE. 83 

ceedingly amiable, and winning in his 
manners, and yet as self-denying and self- 
sacrificing a man as even Paul himself 
could have wished. In a world like that 
in which Paul and his associates traveled, 
this characteristic was especially needed. 
It is always needed in a young missionary, 
or indeed in an old one ; but it was particu- 
larly needed in Western Asia, and South- 
eastern Europe. 

Erastus was a very different man from 
Timothy, and yet he was exactly the man 
whom Paul wanted for this excursion. He 
had been the Chamberlain of Corinth,* 
and was therefore acquainted with money 
concerns ; and one prominent object of the 
mission was to collect subscriptions ill the 
churches, in those regions, for the relief of 
the poorer Christians at Jerusalem. 

Timothy and Erastus then being duly 
commissioned to their work, set out for 



* A Chamberlain at Corinth, was a sort of treasu- 
rer or manager of financial matters. Such men are 
needed in carrying on missionary concerns, though 
not in very large proportion. In the company of our 
Saviour, one it seems was sufficient. 



84 THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 

Europe, with the promise from Paul that 
he would follow them in due time ; which 
promise he did not fail, as soon as circum- 
stances permitted, to fulfill. 



CHAP TER IX. 

THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 

About the time of which I am speaking, an 
affair happened at Ephesus, which in the 
end created a good deal of disturbance, and 
for a time checked the progress of the rising 
Christianity. 

A man named Demetrius, a principal 
silversmith in the city, carried on a large 
trade there for silver models of the temple 
of Diana. These models were called 
shrines. Each of them is believed to have 
had a small silver image enclosed in it. 
They were in great demand among the 
Ephesians, both as curious and beautiful 
ornaments, and for idolatrous purposes. 

In this manufacture of models or shrines, 
Demetrius employed a very large number 



THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 85 

of workmen at a price which liberally sus- 
tained them, and at the same time brought 
a large profit to himself. In short it had 
become one of the most lucrative employ- 
ments of the day. 

These laborers and others, whose em- 
ployments were in any way connected with, 
or dependant on the prevailing idolatry, 
Demetrius took occasion to call together 
and address. He was evidently a cunning 
man, as well as a flippant, and indeed 
interesting and eloquent speaker. 

He reminded them in the first place, that 
their whole means of supporting themselves 
and their families, depended on the popu- 
larity of their idol worship, particularly the 
worship of Diana. That if any thing 
should be done to lessen the public respect 
for her, and diminish the crowd of worship- 
ers in the temple, it would be ruinous to 
them all, in their business. 

Having gained their attention by general 

statements of this sort, he then went on to 

show them that Paul, by the measures he 

was pursuing, was producing just that 

8 



86 THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 

state of things which he had mentioned. 
"Let this man go on in this way, " he seemed 
to say, "but a little while longer, and it will 
be in vain for us to make silver shrines ; for 
there will be no sale for them. 

"For, do you not perceive," he adds, 
"that this man's heresy is turning the 
heads not only of the citizens of Ephesus, 
but also of all Asia ? Why, the impious 
Jew is endeavoring to make every body 
believe that these gods — and even the great 
goddess Diana — are not gods, because they 
are made with hands ! Will you longer 
tolerate such a man ? " he seemed to inquire. 

Perceiving that he had not only gained 
their ears, but excited, in some measure, 
their passions, he continued to harangue 
them, for some time. It appears from what 
followed, that he had a very full audience. 
Probably he had been some time in making 
the needful preparation for securing a full 
attendance. 

He now professed great personal regard 
for their holy religion, their great goddess 
Diana, the beauty, magnificence, and honor 
of her temple. Their business was likely 



THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 87 

to be ruined to be sure ; but that he repre- 
sented to be but a small part of the mischief 
likely to ensue. The temple was to be 
neglected; Diana disregarded and despised; 
and instead of being the capital of all Asia, 
and the resort of people from every part of 
the world, the reputation of the city, of 
Ephesus itself, was at stake. 

According to the tenor of his arguments, 
and the scope of his representations, a crisis 
had at length arrived. The question was 
fairly at issue, whether they should suffer 
these new comers to go on in the way they 
were going, or get rid of them ; he did not 
say all this in so many words, to be sure ; 
or if he did, the sacred historian has not 
recorded it ; but such was the general ten- 
dene y of his remarks. 

No wonder they made an impression. 
He must be greatly ignorant of human 
nature, who does not know that we may 
rouse into hostility the most sluggish people 
in the world, by such representations as these. 

Indeed the policy of Demetrius, was as a 
general fact, the policy of selfish men, all 
over the world, and of all ages. As long as 



88 THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 

an individual does nothing which is sup- 
posed to clash with their interests or pleas- 
ures — as long, in short, as he does not dis- 
turb their feelings, or cross the path in 
which they pursue pleasure or happiness — 
he may be tolerated. But the moment he 
interferes with their schemes of selfishness 
or aggrandizement, they are ready to say, 
" Away with him," and perhaps, H Crucify 
him." 

Demetrius therefore, only acted just as 
all selfish men would have done, in similar 
circumstances, and with similar means. 
He was governed wholly by a regard to his 
own interest, and all his views about re- 
ligion and government — all his piety and 
patriotism — were shaped by his selfishness. 
He could be, or rather appear to be, very 
religious, as long as the religion of the 
country helped him to get money. 

Never perhaps, was the trait of human 
nature better illustrated than by the life and 
sufferings and death of our blessed Saviour. 
He came into the world to be governed by 
higher motives than those of mere selfish- 



THE INTRIGUES OF DEMETRIUS. 89 

ness. and to introduce a religion which 
required higher motives in others. 

But no sooner was the true nature and 
tendency of his religion understood by man- 
kind, than he began to feel the force of 
their hatred, and even their wrath. He no 
sooner told them not to make his Father's 
house a house of merchandize, and drove 
them from it, as he had a legal and perfect 
right to do, than they began to take counsel 
together to slay him. 

There has been more than one Deme- 
trius in the world ; and more than one is 
probably yet to come. The Scribes and 
Pharisees of Judea, were to our Saviour 
what Demetrius, the silversmith of Ephe- 
sus, was to Paul. Their craft was in dan- 
ger, and they knew it. Let but this man's 
doctrines — the doctrines of this Jesus — pre- 
vail, and they would be thrown out of 
employment; or at least would be obliged 
to pursue it in a manner entirely different 
from that in which they were now pursu- 
ing it. They would be obliged so to live 
that their lives would benefit others as well 
diu; 8* 



90 THE MOB. 

as themselves, by promoting their real hap- 
piness ! 

This spirit of Demetrius is manifested 
most by those who hold the reins of power 
and influence. These must move the mul- 
titude, or they will not readily move. The 
common people heard our Saviour gladly. 
His doctrines approved themselves to their 
consciences. But the wily Scribes and 
Pharisees saw farther than they, in their 
simplicity, could see ; and this led them to 
excite the public mind against him. The 
opposition of human nature to truth may 
ever be measured by the power and influ- 
ence of their popular leaders. 



CHAPTER X. 

TH E MOB. 

Demetrius, like almost all other persons of 
power and influence, could more easily 
inflame the passions of the multitude, than 
direct them after they had been once in- 
flamed. He could agitate and disturb 



THE MOB. 91 

much more easily than he could govern 
and restrain. 

He succeeded, entirely, in setting the 
populace against Paul and his associates. 
They were full of wrath, and began to cry 
out, everywhere, " Great is Diana of the 
Ephesians." 

Those who have witnessed the proceed- 
ings of an infuriated mob, need no descrip- 
tion of the horrid scene which ensued, were 
description possible. But it is not so. Such 
scenes baffle our powers of description. 
Men, in these circumstances, seem to me to 
act more like infernals, than rational beings. 
On this point, I speak from actual observa- 
tion. 

For I have seen a mob, more than once, 
and watched its progress. It was in one of 
the most quiet cities in the world. But the 
tongue of more than one Demetrius — to say 
nothing of the pens of a greater number — 
had been at work, and no mere Demetrius 
could stop it, by the mere force of persua- 
sion. It spread like wild-fire. Every one 
seemed impelled forward to do something, 
he knew not what. Violent hands were 



92 THE MOB. 

laid on property, and in one or two instan- 
ces on persons ; but no lives were lost. The 
mob dispersed with the setting sun. 

Now we must remember that the state of 
things in Ephesus, was very different 
eighteen hundred years ago, from that of a 
city of the United States, in the nineteenth 
century. Some advances have certainly 
been made ; though a mob is still a mob, 
everywhere. But we will resume our 
story. 

Ephesus is now a scene of the wildest, 
strangest confusion imaginable. Every 
person is crying out with all his might, 
" Great is Diana of the Ephesians." No 
one stops to explain ; he could not be heard 
if he did. And what is worse, he would 
not be understood, if he was heard. The 
passions are on fire, reason is dethroned, or if 
not dethroned, inactive. If men are not 
quite like infernals, they are like mad or in- 
sane men. 

It is worthy of remark that in all such 
circumstances, as those of Ephesus at the 
time of the mob, men cry the loudest, 
whose minds are least enlightened on the 



THE MOB. 93 

subject which has called forth the general 
excitement. If the subject is politics — pro- 
fessedly so, I mean — they cry loudest and 
longest who know least about the principles 
of politics, or the merits of governors or the 
governed. If the subject is religion, they 
cry loudest in its favor, who know and 
care least about any religion at all. 

I am not authorized from any thing 
which the writer of the Acts of the Apostles 
has recorded, to say with certainty how 
this was at Ephesus. And yet one can 
hardly mistake, in the matter — one, I mean, 
who has witnessed again and again, these 
outbreakings of human nature — these moral 
volcanoes. 

If there was a drunkard staggering 
through the streets of Ephesus, at the mo- 
ment the hue and cry began to be raised, 
whose tongue could be made to move long 
enough for the purpose, he doubtless be- 
came, of a sudden, deeply affected — I mean 
pretendedly so — by the injury likely to be 
done to the religion of his country, and to 
the great goddess herself, and cried out 



94 THE MOB. 

with the rest of the crowd ; " Great is Diana 
of the Ephesians." 

If there was a miserable debauchee there 
— and we may be assured that there was 
no lack of persons of this description^ — 
whose wasted energies, recruited for the 
moment, perhaps by some narcotic or other- 
wise exciting drug, permitted him to do so, 
his voice would be sure to be heard at the 
top of the rest, in praise of the immortal 
Diana, and her very pure temple and chaste 
worship. 

If there was any mischief-maker there — 
any one who was given to backbiting and 
slander — whose tongue seemed hardly able 
to move, except to detract from the worth 
of some fellow citizen, or other, this man 
too, would remit for a moment his current 
of slander and detraction, and cry out with 



* They who have any doubts on this subject, will 
do well to read over Paul's letter, written sometime 
afterward to the professing people of Ephesus. It is 
probable that before their conversion they were of the 
same general character with the rest of the people of 
Ephesus. 



THE MOB. 95 

the rest, " Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
sians." 

If there were profane persons there — per- 
sons who did not hesitate to swear and 
blaspheme, at almost every breath, these 
also became of a sudden greatly alarmed 
for the safety of their religion, and jealous 
of the honor of their goddess, and cried 
out, " Great is Diana." 

If there was, in short, any mean or 
wicked person there, in the city, who 
neither feared nor cared for any god or any 
man, or the honor of God or man, that per- 
son was sure to be found crying with all 
his might; "Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
sians." 

The middle aged — those who were the 
active, busy men of the city, and whose 
means of support seemed likely to be di- 
minished by the success and spread of the 
new religion, were heard in every direction 
repeating and prolonging the pious cry ; but 
so were the aged, who could not labor, and 
the little children who were not old enough. 
Whether there were female voices heard in 
the crowd, is more uncertain; but these 



96 THE MOB. 

certainly would have done much to add to 
the confusion which we are assured already- 
prevailed. 

I do not say that the more respectable 
people of Ephesus did not shout the praises 
of Diana with the rest, but only, that if 
there were drunkards, or licentious persons, 
or swearers, or slanderers, or any other 
mean persons in the city, these would be 
heard foremost in the cry, and if strength 
enough remained within them, prolonging 
it beyond all others. 

Whether Demetrius himself expected such 
an uproar, or was pleased with it, now it 
was fairly set agoing, is uncertain. But in 
any event, he could not help it now. 
There was no reasoning with the people in 
such circumstances, unless indeed they 
were not vastly different in their natural 
character, from men and women of our 
own days and times. 

It is almost laughable to think over, 
afterward, how strangely and foolishly 
people act in these hours of agitation, and 
disquiet ; these seasons of disorder and con- 



THE MOB. 97 

fusion — how little they have of their usual 
reason and common sense. 

Go up to one of these bawlers, at the 
corners of the streets, and in the attitude of 
a stranger and honest inquirer, ask him 
what the matter is, and why he bawls so 
loud. Perhaps he may pause long enough 
to look at you, but will he reply ? Not he. 
If he knows any thing about the matter, he 
has not brains enough in his head to en- 
able him to collect his thoughts to make 
you a reply. His look at you is exceed- 
ingly vacant, and stupid. He pauses per- 
haps, long enough to say, if he were dis- 
posed to say it, or at least to say it in his 
looks; "What a foolish question/' and 
immediately resumes his cry; " Great is 
Diana." 

It is possible that Demetrius or some of 
his clan, may have themselves grown sick 
of the tumult before it was ended, for it 
lasted a good while. But pleasant, or not 
pleasant, as it may have been to them, 
they were compelled, as I have already said, 
9 



98 THE MOB. 

to put up with it; to endure what they 
could not cure, at least for a time. 

Among the friends of Paul, now in the 
city, were Gaius and Aristarchus, two 
Macedonians. One of these — Gaius — had 
lived a while at Corinth, and while Paul 
was preaching there, had kindly and hos- 
pitably entertained him. The other after- 
wards traveled with Paul, and it is said, 
even went with him to Rome. 

Whether the mob could not at first find 
Paul himself, or whether they hesitated 
about wreaking their vengeance on him, 
and thought it safer to attack his com- 
panions, instead of him, does not clearly 
appear. The first act of violence recorded 
of them, is, that they seized on these two 
Macedonians, and carried them into the 
theatre. 

The theatres of the Greeks — and prob- 
ably those of the Lesser Asia — were not 
only used for public exhibitions, but also 
for holding popular meetings ; and some- 
times also for courts and elections. Hence 
it was that they conducted Gaius and Aris- 
tarchus, after they had seized them, into 



THE MOB. 99 

this place. They meant to give them at 
least the form of a trial — I mean rather a 
mock trial. 

But their violence was such as did not 
promise any thing like an impartial trial. 
They rushed into the theatre tumultuously, 
and no candid looker on would have felt at 
all sure there would not be tumult and even 
violence within. 

Paul soon arrived at the theatre, and 
would have followed his companions into 
it, but his disciples and friends tried to dis- 
suade him from it, and their reasons and 
arguments finally succeeded : not, however, 
till considerable time had elapsed. He was 
anxious, as it would seem, to defend him- 
self against those unjust charges of Deme- 
trius, and others, which had given rise to 
all this disturbance. 

One circumstance which had much influ- 
ence with Paul, on this occasion, was the 
presence and counsel of certain public offi- 
cers, called in Scripture, " Chiefs of Asia," 
in plain language, " Chiefs of the Asiarchs." 
These were men who were annually elected 
by the provinces, to preside over sacred 



100 THE MOB. 

things, and over the public games. They 
were accustomed to hold meetings at the 
principal cities of Lesser Asia, Ephesus, 
Sardis, Smyrna, &c, to deliberate on such 
matters as could properly be brought before 
them. 

These " Chiefs of Asia/' it would seem, 
were holding a common council in Ephe- 
sus at this very time ; and for some reason 
or other, were friendly to Paul. Probably 
they had indulged their curiosity in hear- 
ing him preach, and though not converted, 
thought favorably of his doctrines. They 
saw at least that he was a man of no ordi- 
nary attainments, and quite above the usual 
charlatanry of the day. 

These Asiarchs it was, who more than 
his immediate disciples, urged Paul not to 
venture among the mob, in the theatre, and 
who finally prevailed. Paul, as I have 
already said, did not come forward and 
expose himself, and it was probably well 
that he did not. 

In the mean time the noise and confusion 
continued. Some cried one thing, and 
some another. The truth is, more than 



THE MOB. 101 

half the crowd did not know what was the 
cause of the tumult, nor why they them- 
selves had collected together. They could, 
it is true, cry, " Great is Diana," just as 
well as if they had known all about the 
matter. 

It would seem that the mob were enraged 
at the Jews, in general, as well as those 
particular individuals who had become 
converted to the new religion. They did 
not make a proper distinction between the 
Jewish religion and the Christian. Perhaps 
they thought of Paul and his disciples 
merely as a new sect of Jews, professing a 
great deal more self-denial and purity. 

But whether this was so or not, the Jews 
of Ephesus expected to be blamed as a 
whole, and wished to exculpate themselves 
and throw the blame wholly on Paul and 
his disciples. For this purpose, they se- 
lected an orator by the name of Alexander, 
and endeavored to obtain for him a hear- 
ing. They even pressed him forward, with 
an effort which bordered on violence. 

But it was all to no purpose. Alexander, 
9* 



102 THE MOB. 

though he made every reasonable effort to 
be heard, was not permitted to speak. He 
was a Jew, and they knew it; and they 
did not wish to hear a word from him. 
The more he urged the matter, the more 
clamorous the mob became. At last, to 
drown his voice, and to give vent to their 
rage, they set up anew their dreadful cry 
of " Great is Diana of the Ephesians," and 
kept it up about two hours. 

Perhaps it was about as well for the 
community that their savage rage should 
spend itself in this way, as in any other. 
It might seem at the time, a troublesome 
thing to the citizens — worse no doubt than 
any North American powow would have 
been. And yet suppose they had given 
vent to their rage, as the disaffected citizens 
of Philadelphia lately did, in shooting down 
those against whom their angry feelings 
had become enlisted. Suppose they had 
commenced and carried on a war of extir- 
mination against the poor Jews. How 
much more dreadful would the scene have 
been ! How much more disgraceful ! 

Seldom, if ever, has there been a mob, in 



INTERFERENCE OF THE TOWN CLERK. 103 

which so much angry feeling was mani- 
fested, which spent itself to so great an 
extent, in mere words. Not a person, so 
far as we can learn, was injured, in his per- 
son or property. 

But the mob have not yet dispersed, nor 
do they seem inclined to disperse. They 
are still crying out, as they have been 
these two hours; " Great is Diana of the 
Ephesians." What is to be the end of all 
this 7 — perhaps some of the more consider- 
ate of the citizens begin to ask among 
themselves. We shall see, in the next 
chapter. 



CHAPTER XL 

INTERFERENCE OF THE TOWN CLERK. 

In most cities they have officers whose duty 
it is to keep the peace. These, with us ? 
are often the sheriffs, and constables. In 
times of public excitement, however, like 
that at Ephesus, these officers are some- 
times unable to go forward in the perform- 



104 INTERFERENCE OF THE TOWN CLERK. 

ance of their duty. There are instances in 
which the soldiers of the country or city 
have been called out and blood has been 
shed. 

The peace officer of Ephesus is called 
in Scripture, the town clerk. Beside the 
duties which usually devolve upon the 
town clerk of a city — of being the scribe and 
secretary, and of transcribing and copying 
the laws — he was entitled to a seat in their 
deliberative assemblies,^ and on him also 
it seems to have devolved to keep the 
peace of the city. Doddridge, in his Para- 
phrase of the New Testament, calls him 
the chancellor. 

Entitled as he thus was to a seat in the 
theatre, he presented himself there, and by 
his authority obtained silence enough to be 
able to address the crowd there assembled. 
This point being secured, he proceeded to 
reason with them on the unreasonableness 
of their conduct, in the following manner. 

"Ye men of Ephesus! What man is 
there that knoweth not how that the city of 



* See Barnes' Notes on Acts, p. 270. 



INTERFERENCE OF THE TOWN CLERK. 105 

the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great 
goddess Diana, and of the image which 
fell down from Jupiter ? Seeing then, that 
these things cannot be spoken against, ye 
ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 
For ye have brought hither these men, 
which are neither robbers of churches, nor 
yet blasphemers of your goddess. 

" Wherefore, if Demetrius and the crafts- 
men which are with him, have a matter 
against any man, the law is open, and 
there are deputies : let them implead one 
another. But if ye inquire any thing con- 
cerning other matters, it shall be deter- 
mined in a lawful assembly. For we are 
in danger to be called in question for this 
day's uproar, there being no cause whereby 
we may give an account of this con- 
course." 

In this speech, which was certainly very 
ingenious, he seemed to take for granted 
that the worship of the goddess Diana was 
so well established among them, as to ren- 
der idle the supposition that a few Jews 
could destroy or even materially weaken it. 
Whether he was sincere in his compliments 



106 INTERFERENCE OF THE TOWN CLERK. 

to them and their religion, is, to say the 
least, somewhat doubtful, but his remarks 
had the effect gradually to subdue their 
apparent fears. 

He then proceeded to show ^them that, 
instead of convicting Paul and his com- 
panions of any thing like crime against the 
country, or the religion of its people, there 
was great reason, on the part of Demetrius 
and his friends to fear lest blame should 
fall on them. 

They had brought to the theatre, for trial, 
two men, against whom there was obvi- 
ously no public charge, which would lie ; 
and in addition to this, had subjected them- 
selves by their riotous conduct to the dis- 
pleasure of the magistrates, and even to a 
very severe punishment, should it be proved 
against them. For the Romans, to whom 
they were subject, had a law in the follow- 
ing words; u He who raises a mob, let him 
be punished with death." 

We must not attribute too much, how- 
ever, to the ingenuity and eloquence of the 
town clerk ; for it is certainly possible the 
fury of the mob was considerably spent be- 



INTERFERENCE OF THE TOWN CLERK. 107 

fore he came in. There is an end to all 
things, and so there must be to the lawless 
violence of a mob. Reason, after a time, 
will begin to resume her sway, even in the 
most unreasonable. 

Nor must we conclude on the other hand, 
that it is not possible to exercise authority, 
amidst the tumult of a mob. I have myself 
seen even a mob hearken to the voice of 
authority at least for a few moments. But 
it were better, far better, to prevent that 
disorder, if we can, which when once be- 
gun, it is so difficult to control or direct. 

The town clerk having appeased the 
people, in some good measure at least, pro- 
ceeded to disperse the meeting. Gaius and 
Aristarchus, were doubtless set free, unin- 
jured. It is by no means improbable, that 
the more reasonable among them — those 
who were beginning to reflect a little — 
were glad to get off so welL 



108 PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 

The time was now at hand when Paul 
was to leave his disciples at Ephesus — per- 
haps forever. He had been with them a 
long time, and had done them great good ; 
and there were some among them, no doubt, 
who felt grateful to him for his services. 

To judge of the good he had done at 
Ephesus, it is needful to consider well the 
condition in which he found the inhabitants. 
This may be learned by perusing, carefully, 
his letter to them, and by reflecting on what 
has already been shown — their gross idol- 
atry. 

Let us look a little at the document. I 
have already more than once alluded to the 
letter of Paul the apostle, to the Ephesians, 
written many years after he left them, and, 
as is generally supposed, while he was a 
prisoner in Rome. It is full of information 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 109 

concerning the native character of the peo- 
ple to whom he wrote. 

One prominent trait in the natural char- 
acter of the Ephesians, and of course in the 
character of those who became converted to 
Christianity, was, their open and downright 
licentiousness. I have already alluded to 
this. But it needs more than a passing 
allusion. It is specified and dwelt upon 
with great earnestness in several of the 
chapters of his epistle, especially the second 
and fifth. Indeed Ephesus is spoken of by 
some writers as " the licentious city of 
Ephesus." 

Now, in order to know how much Paul 
had done for the Ephesians, we need to 
know how difficult it is to bring back to the 
simplicity of the gospel, those who have 
ever been addicted to any form of impurity. 
It is almost like raising the dead. 

But Paul had been a means of doing this. 
"And you hath he quickened," says he, 
" who were dead in trespasses and sins, 
wherein in time past ye walked according 
to the course of this world, according to the 
10 



110 PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 

prince of the power of the air, the spirit that 
now worketh in the children of disobedi- 
ence ; among whom we all had our con- 
versation in times past, in the lusts of our 
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind." 

Again, they were given to intemperance. 
This vice is generally a yoke-fellow to the 
former. I do not know that the Ephesians 
were more addicted to intemperance than 
many of the other nations around them ; 
but it was a very common vice among 
them all. They needed to be admonished, 
as Paul truly admonished them, not to be 
drunk with wine, wherein was excess ; but 
if they wished to be merry, to indulge 
themselves in " psalms and hymns, and 
spiritual songs." 

They had been, in early life and at every 
stage of life, greatly addicted to lying. In 
truth this, too, was a common vice among 
the eastern nations. Paul said of the 
Cretans, that they were "always" liars. 
We have much testimony on this point, 
both in the Bible and out of it. I will only 
quote a single verse. 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. Ill 

In his letter to the Ephesians, fourth 
chapter, Paul says : " Wherefore putting 
away lying, let every man speak truth to 
his neighbor ; for ye are members one of 
another." Would he have said this if they 
had not been greatly addicted to this un- 
worthy vice ? 

They were cautioned against undue in- 
dulgence in anger, and even required, in 
one instance, to put it entirely away. In 
any event they were told not to harbor in 
their hearts, habitual ill-will and anger. 
" Let not the sun go down upon your 
wrath," is an injunction which conveys to 
us a dreadful idea of the proneness of a 
people to indulge in perpetual anger or 
revenge. 

It is a distinguishing trait, as it is com- 
monly thought, of our own North American 
Indians, that they are unforgiving. And it 
may be true — it most certainly is true, 
that they indulge an acquired resentment 
against an individual, a tribe, or a nation, 
longer than most other men, and transmit 
it with more certainty to their posterity. 
Yet even among us, there are not a few in- 



112 PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 

dividuals, especially those on whom the 
gospel has had little or no power, who 
cherish angry feelings and harbor revenge 
as long as life lasts, and even infuse their 
angry and revengeful feelings into their 
offspring. I have known children go 
through life, with these inherited feelings. 

Now it is not unreasonable to think of 
the people of Asia generally, and perhaps 
those of Ephesus in particular, as of this 
description. They were accustomed to let 
the sun go down upon their wrath. Where- 
as, according to the spirit of the Christian 
system, it did not become them to indulge 
wrath at all. How great the work of 
bringing over to the law of Christ such a 
people as this ! Surely it needed all the 
energies of a Paul, and a Timothy, espe- 
cially to begin it. 

They were given, among the rest, to 
fraud and dishonesty. The injunction, 
" Let him that stole, steal no more," plainly 
indicates this. What follows refers to the 
cause, namely, idleness, or an unwilling- 
ness to labor. " But rather let him labor," 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 113 



says Paul, " working with his hands, that 
he may have to give to him that needeth." 

The natural disposition of mankind leads 
them to invert this order. Instead of plac- 
ing their highest happiness in communica- 
ting good — in laboring that they may be 
able to give to him that necdeth — they 
think they are happy just in proportion as 
they receive from the labor of others. They 
will not work and give, as long as they can 
be idle and receive. 

Thus it was, in a high degree, at Ephe- 
sus, and throughout that whole region. 
The people of warmer climates are gener- 
ally more reluctant to labor, and more 
willing to live on the labor of others, than 
those of temperate and cool regions. But 
these people of Asia Minor, and the adjoin- 
ing countries, especially those of them who 
were least civilized, were peculiarly ad- 
dicted to every species of dishonesty; and 
hence the peculiar force of the Apostle's 
injunction. Hence, too, we may form an 
idea of the difficulties he was obliged to 
10* 



114 PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 

encounter in his endeavors to reclaim such 
a people. 

And yet, indolent as the Ephesians were, 
they were covetous. Some of us may think 
it a contradiction in terms, that a lazy 
man — one who will not lift a finger for 
himself, if he can help it — should be covet- 
ous. His desire to amass property, it will 
be thought, should lead him to correspond- 
ing efforts to obtain it. But it is not always 
so, as we have abundant evidence. 

First, in the passage already quoted, in 
which Paul charges the new converts to be 
industrious; and not, as in time past, fraud- 
ulent. 

Secondly, in another instance, when he 
specially charges them not to be partakers 
with the covetous — assuring them that no 
covetous man hath any inheritance in the 
kingdom of Christ and of God : and when 
he calls even the covetous man an idolater. 

Thirdly, in his farewell address to the 
church at Ephesus, through their elders, he 
says expressly, " I have coveted no man's 
silver, or gold, or apparel." Why does 
he take so much pains, in this instance, to 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 115 

disclaim covetousness ? Why does he add 
to this disclaimer, " Ye yourselves know 
that these hands have ministered to my 
necessities, and to them that were with 
me. I have showed you all things, how 
that so laboring, ye ought to support the 
weak ? " Was it not that in writing to the 
Ephesians, there was special need of it? 
On this point I have not a doubt, nor do I 
believe any person will have, who exam- 
ines carefully the whole subject. 

There are few things more discouraging 
to a minister of the gospel than this covet- 
ousness, except it be that gross idolatry 
which, in the present instance, was joined 
with it. There is one thing, however, 
which is everywhere a greater difficulty, if 
possible, than idolatry and covetousness. 

I have mentioned, already, the tendency 
to evil speaking among the Ephesians, and 
I might have spoken of their profaneness. 
I have also spoken of their general, or open 
licentiousness. This prepares the way for 
mentioning that pollution of the soul, out of 
which, as out of a hot-bed, almost all evil 
of every other kind proceeds. This is indi- 



116 PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 

cafed by such passages in Paul's letter as 
the following : 

" Let no corrupt communication proceed 
out of your mouth, but that which is good 
to the use of edifying, that it may minister 
grace to the hearers." u But fornication and 
all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be 
so much as named among you, as becom- 
eth saints ; neither filthiness, nor foolish 
talking, nor jesting, which are not con- 
venient, but rather giving of thanks." 
" And have no fellowship with the unfruit- 
ful works of darkness, but rather reprove 
them. For it is a shame even to speak of 
those things which are done of them in 
secret." 

What a dreadful condition of human 
nature does this present to us. And what a 
herculean task must it be to transform a 
people whose very breath, as it were, was 
polluted — who could not speak without 
uttering something which comes under the 
name of corrupt communication or filthi- 
ness. Nothing so effectually shuts away 
the Holy Spirit of God from the hearts of 
mankind, as that pollution of soul which is 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 117 

here alluded to — a pollution so great that it 
seems to overflow, everywhere in life, even 
in the midst of the most common conversa- 
tion. 

I have seen young men brought up in a 
community not unlike that at Ephesus — I 
mean so far as this single point to which I 
now refer is concerned. I have watched for 
more than a quarter of a century, the pro- 
gress of these young men. In general they 
have turned out miserably. 

Some have perished in early life, the 
victims of intemperance and other excesses. 
Others, by aid of certain good habits inter- 
mingled with bad ones, and a strong consti- 
tution, have gone on to forty or fifty years 
of age. Yet of a whole neighborhood, 
trained in the midst of polluted conversa- 
tion, only two or three have so escaped the 
contagion of bad influence, as to remain 
uncontaminated and uninjured. And these 
have been saved, thus far, to use the lan- 
guage of Scripture, so as by fire. 

It is, I repeat it, a most terrible thing for 
youth to become poisoned in this manner, 
and presents the most formidable difficulty 



IIS PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 



in the way of becoming holy, like God, 
which can possibly be presented. In truth, 
the conversion of those whose whole souls 
are polluted in this way, so that from their 
mouths issues forth a constant stream of 
corruption, is almost impossible. The 
greater part of such young men will pursue 
that path which is, as Solomon expresses it, 
" the way to hell going down by the cham- 
bers of death." 

It is a matter of surprise that even the 
great Paul, with all his eloquence, and 
common sense, and miracles, aided by the 
whole influence of the Spirit of God, could 
collect a church under such circumstances. 
For even the Holy Spirit does not usually 
operate to save free agents, without their 
own cooperation. But what hope is there 
that they will cooperate with Divine influ- 
ences, from whom proceeds, as from an 
overflowing fountain, all manner of filthi- 
ness, and foolish talking, and jesting? 

But a church was gathered at Ephesus, 
in spite of impurity, idleness, and covetous- 
ness, which is idolatry. Paul was perhaps 
worn out in the three years' conflict with 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 119 

sin here, and needed relief, had the world 
not called him away. But it did thus call 
him, as we may rest assured. Paul never 
moved at hap-hazard. He never moved 
without the biddings of Providence, or a 
voice from the heavens still more audible. 

I have said that the time was come for 
him to depart from Ephesus for Europe, 
according to the course he had previously 
marked out for himself, or rather which 
Divine Providence had marked out for him. 
I have also said that he was about to be 
separated from the people of his charge, 
perhaps forever. 

But it was not so, after all ! He was to 
meet the elders of Ephesus once more, and 
hold sweet converse with them, this side 
the grave. It is even thought by some, 
that subsequently to all this, though unex- 
pectedly to himself, he visited Ephesus. 
This however is, to say the least, doubtful. 

And yet, however this may have been, 
the separation was not forever, in the usual 
sense of that term. The words forever, 
and everlasting, are indeed sometimes ap- 
plied to a duration short of eternal, but not 



120 PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 

always, nor perhaps most generally. Paul 
and his Ephesian brethren, except the 
elders, may have separated at this time, to 
meet no more till the dissolution of all ma- 
terial things. 

But grant that they did. Grant that, 
without seeing each other's faces again, 
they went respectively to their rest in the 
grave. Grant that, till the heavens be no 
more, they are not to wake from their long 
repose. Still, at the last trump, for the 
trumpet shall sound, they shall come forth 
from the sleep of the grave with a joy and 
rejoicing, to which all their other joy this 
side the Eternal Bar, bore no sort of com- 
parison. They will come forth to meet and 
embrace each other as on the shores of the 
eternal world, to stand together with the 
assembled universe before the final Judge 
of all, and to hear the welcome sentence of 
" Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world." 

Whether the troubles excited by Deme- 
trius hastened Paul's departure to Macedo- 
nia, we can only conjecture. On the one 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 121 

hand, we know that it is sometimes expe- 
dient, in times of public excitement like 
that at Ephesus, for those who are so ob- 
noxious to the populace to withdraw for a 
time, and let the excitement subside, and 
then return. 

On the other hand, however, to do this, 
in some instances, is to give up the cause 
which has awakened the opposition. 
Whether it would have been so regarded 
now, cannot be ascertained. But then 
Paul had laid his plan to go to Macedonia 
long before the mob, and had sent on his 
heralds. And still more than all this, it 
does not seem at all in keeping with the 
general character of Paul, that he should 
flee before a mob. 

Does it look like flying before the mob, 
when he can hardly be restrained, as at 
Ephesus, from going into the midst of it? 
Does it look like being intimidated, when, 
having been stoned and made senseless, and 
almost deprived of life, as at Lystra, he 
returns the very next day into the city 
which had joined and aided a banditti in 
11 



122 



PAUL DEPARTS FOR EUROPE. 



expelling him? Was there any want of 
courage, when he dared to strike with 
blindness a favorite sorcerer in the court of 
the governor of Cyprus ? Was he afraid of 
mobs, when at Philippi he dared to put a 
stop to the soothsayer, and defeat, in a mo- 
ment, every prospect of her employers of 
gain from her tricks and incantations ? 

But be all these things as they may, with 
respect to the causes of leaving Ephesus, 
Paul is ready to go to Macedonia. His 
course is north-westward — the distance to 
Philippi about three hundred miles. The 
journey may be performed either by land or 
by water. It is easiest to go by water, if 
an opportunity offers, and probably cheap- 
est. The Apostle is undoubtedly under 
the necessity of studying economy, in all 
his movements. Still it is rather more dan- 
gerous to go by water than by land ; and 
this also he will take into the account. 
He has no right to jeopardize his safety to 
save a few pence. There is danger both 
ways. He has but a choice of evils. He 
judges as well as he can, decides, and hav- 
ing decided, leaves events to God. 



PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 123 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 

Macedonia, as we have already seen, lay 
some three hundred miles north-westward 
from Ephesus, by water. The distance by 
land was greater, however; probably one 
hundred miles greater. 

Paul had formerly landed in Macedonia, 
at the city of Neapolis. It is most probable 
he took the same course now as before, but 
of this the sacred historian gives us no cer- 
tain information. He only speaks of his 
going " over those parts," which may mean 
less or more. The greater probability is, 
that he followed out, in the main, his for- 
mer track. 

This tour through Macedonia was proba- 
bly performed alone. What became of 
Timothy and Erastus is uncertain. Some 
have supposed they had finished their work 



124 PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 

and returned to Ephesus, prior to the period 
of Paul's leaving the city ; but this is hardly- 
possible. Others have supposed that they 
went back soon after Paul's arrival. 

It would seem from a verse or two in the 
second chapter of the second letter of Paul 
to the Corinthians, that he went into Mace- 
donia, on this occasion, by way of Troas, 
expecting to find Titus there, but was dis- 
appointed. Troas was one hundred and 
fifty miles or more northward of Ephesus. 
Titus did not join the great Apostle till he 
had been in Macedonia a considerable time. 

I have said that, in all probability, Paul 
landed at Neapolis. This was a small sea- 
port, in the southwest part of Macedonia, 
near the borders of Thrace. Its present 
name is Napoli. It is, however, but a mere 
village. 

From Neapolis, if indeed he followed 
on his former track, he went to Philippi, 
fifteen miles westward. Here it was that, 
in his former mission to this country, 
he had been persecuted, and Silas and he 
thrown into prison. Here it was, that at 



PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 125 

midnight, while they were in a dun- 
geon, with their feet fastened in stocks, yet 
joyfully singing praises to God, that an 
earthquake threw down the prison walls, 
and that a train of events followed which 
ended in the conversion of the jailor and his 
family, and the liberation of the prisoners. 

Here too, Luke, his aged and venerable 
companion, is supposed to have been left ; 
and here he is believed to have remained, 
till Paul met with him in the progress of 
this second grand tour through these re- 
gions. 

From Philippi, if, as before supposed, he 
followed the course he had pursued for- 
merly, he departed to Amphipolis. This 
was about twenty miles further, and was 
the capital of Macedonia. Whether larger 
than Philippi, is not known. It is said to 
have contained, at this time, about ten 
thousand inhabitants. 

Appollonia, the next town on his probable 

route, lay southward from Amphipolis, and 

not exactly on the road thither. Thessa- 

lonica, another Macedonian city, is larger 

11* 



126 PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 

at present than either of the foregoing 
places, though I do not know what its size 
was in the days of Paul. Its modern name 
is Salonica. 

Here Paul had much trouble, in his first 
missionary tour. A mob was raised against 
him, but he was not imprisoned here, as he 
had been at Philippi ; though he probably 
would have been had he not escaped, in 
the night, by the aid of his friends, to 
Berea. 

It is worthy of remark that there is not 
a fact recorded in the holy Scriptures, 
which goes to show that Paul was ever 
mobbed, or even persecuted, in the same 
city twice, by foreigners themselves, out of 
Palestine. In Jerusalem, he was again 
and again assailed, and perhaps elsewhere 
by the Jews, but never the second time by 
foreigners. 

It is especially worthy of notice, that at 
Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, in Asia Mi- 
nor, and at Philippi and Thessalonica, in 
Macedonia, not a word of this kind is even 
hinted. On the contrary, he remained in 



PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 127 

Macedonia many months, and gave them 
much exhortation, and was probably every- 
where received with great joy. 

The meeting with Luke, at Philippi, 
must have been deeply affecting. Five 
years had elapsed since they separated. 
Of what Luke had been doing all this while, 
we know nothing. We have no reason to 
believe that such a man as he had been 
idle. 

There are a thousand things about Mace- 
donia which it would be gratifying to us to 
learn from Paul, during this excursion, and 
yet the Holy Spirit has seen fit to record 
nothing. All we can say is from inference 
and conjecture. 

From the consideration that five years 
had elapsed, that Timothy and Erastus had 
been sent here to collect money for the poor 
at Jerusalem, that Paul himself was needed 
a considerable time in order to give exhort- 
ation, and, finally, that several letters or 
epistles of Paul were to churches in Mace- 
donia, it is fair to infer that Christianity 
had made a good deal of progress there at 



128 THREE MONTHS IN GREECE. 



this time. But how many converts had 
been made exactly, and who were placed 
over them, it is impossible for us to ascer- 
tain. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THREE MONTHS IN GREECE. 

In the progress of his tour, Paul came at 
length to Greece. Here, also, he spent 
several months — doubtless, as in Macedo- 
nia, in giving exhortation and instruction. 

What kind of instruction was needed in 
these countries, we may judge, in the first 
place, by considering what instruction 
would generally be required among infant 
churches in ancient Greece and Macedo- 
nia ; and secondly, by studying the letters 
addressed to churches here, namely, two to 
the church at Corinth, two to that at Thes- 
salonica, and one to that at Philippi. 

Greece, at this period, was a country 
about four hundred miles long from north 



THREE MONTHS IN GREECE. 129 

to south, and three hundred and fifty wide 
from east to west. The Peloponessus was 
the great peninsula at the southern part of 
Greece, while Achaia and Thessaly lay to 
the north of it. 

Among the principal cities of Greece, 
were Athens and Corinth ; and these it was, 
in particular, that Paul had visited. It was 
to these, therefore, and to the country lying 
round about them, especially round about 
Corinth, that, in his second tour, his atten- 
tion would be turned. 

It would seem that when Paul, while at 
Ephesus, began to plan this visit to Mace- 
donia and Greece, he had intended to go 
directly from those places to Jerusalem, 
probably to carry the money collected, and 
attend the feasts, and subsequently to that, 
to go to Rome. But he had no thought, it 
is presumed, of being carried to Rome as a 
prisoner. 

In the prosecution of his plan of going to 
Jerusalem, and thence to Rome, he had no 
sooner concluded his labors in Greece, than 
he made preparation to sail to some part of 



130 THREE MONTHS IN GREECE. 

Syria. A voyage directly to Phenicia, or to 
Cesarea, would not, if the winds were favor- 
able, be very tedious, and would be much 
more direct, as well as expeditious, than a 
journey by land. 

But just as he was ready to sail for 
Syria, it was discovered that the Jews had 
concerted a plan to take him — probably 
after the ship should get under weigh — but 
for what purpose is not known. This led 
to an entire change of his plan. Instead of 
going back by sea, he determined, at once, 
to go by land through Macedonia. 

This, of course, was much farther, and 
would make him later in reaching Syria. 
Perhaps he had intended to arrive at Jeru- 
salem a little while before Pentecost, instead 
of merely reaching there just at the opening 
of the feast; but this would frustrate his 
purpose. 

Nevertheless it gave him another oppor- 
tunity of visiting his Macedonian friends. 
It also proved a means of securing to him 
an abundance of good company on his 
homeward bound journey. There is a 



SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 131 

wide difference between traveling with 
friends, and with those who lie in wait to 
imprison or destroy us. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 

From Athens it would be natural for Paul 
to go first to Thessalonica, because, as it 
was a place of much more trade than any- 
other Macedonian city, he would much 
more easily obtain a passage thither. But 
whether he sailed first to Thessalonica, or 
to Amphipolis, or Appollonia, he stopped at 
Philippi. 

Is it asked how this can be known? I 
answer, in two ways. First, by the narra- 
tive of the writer of the Acts, Luke himself 
He says, " We sailed away from Philippi." 
Secondly, from the fact that Luke was one 
of the company. For there can be no rea- 
sonable doubt that he had been left here by 
Paul on his first excursion, and that, after 



132 SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 

having resided here or elsewhere in Mace- 
donia, till this time, he now returned with 
him. In writing the narrative of Paul's 
travels, on his first arrival in this country, 
he says we, while speaking of the mission- 
ary company, till they arrived at Philippi, 
after which he says he or they, till Paul's 
return from this second visit, when he 
again says we. u We sailed away from 
Philippi," he says, " after the days of un- 
leavened bread," &c. 

For some reason or other, the little com- 
pany going out with Paul into Asia, at this 
time, with the exception of Luke, found it 
necessary to set out a few days earlier than 
Paul and Luke ; but they waited for them 
at Troas till they arrived. 

The company consisted, besides Paul 
and Luke, of the seven following persons, 
namely: Sopater, of Berea; Aristarchus and 
Secundus, of Thessalonica ; Tychicus and 
Trophimus, of the Lesser Asia; Gaius of 
Derbe, and Timothy. It may be well to 
describe briefly these several persons. 

Of the first named, Sopater, of Berea, 



SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 133 

but little is known with certainty. Per- 
haps he was the individual whom Paul, in 
his letter to the Romans, near its close, 
mentions by the name of Sosipater, and 
who is said to have been a kinsman of 
Paul. 

Of Aristarchus something was said in 
chapter ten. He was one of those on whom 
the Ephesian mob undertook to wreak their 
vengeance. What he had been doing in 
Macedonia or Greece, we are not told. 
Similar remarks might be made concerning 
Gaius, of Derbe. 

The name of Secundus does not occur 
elsewhere ; and of him I can say nothing 
other than has been said — that he belonged 
to Thessalonica. 

Tychicus was a man for whom Paul had 
a very high esteem — no doubt deservedly. 
In the sixth chapter of the letter to the 
Ephesians, he styles him a beloved brother 
and faithful minister in the Lord. He was 
employed to carry his letters to several of 
the churches. 

Trophimus was of the city of Ephesus. 
12 



134 SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 

We know little of him before this event of 
his return with Paul. When the latter 
wrote his second letter to Timothy, he was 
at Miletus, sick. We become better ac- 
quainted with him afterward. He seems 
to have gone on with Paul to Jerusalem, 
and to have given occasion to some of the 
complaints of the mob which was there 
raised against him. 

The story of Timothy is too long to be 
inserted here. He was a native of Derbe 
or Lystra, in Lycaonia — probably of Lys- 
tra. His father was a Gentile, but his 
mother was a Jewess. He appears to have 
had, originally, a feeble constitution, but to 
have improved it greatly by his rigid tem- 
perance. 

Of all those who were associated with 
Paul, in his labors — Luke himself not ex- 
cepted — none were more united to him 
in heart and mind than Timothy. He 
calls him not only his dearly beloved son, 
but also his brother, the companion of his 
labors, and a man of God. His natural 
temperament seems to have been peculiarly 



SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 135 



happy. He had a most excellent mother, 
which will partially explain the fact. 

Luke was different, in almost every re- 
spect, from all the other companions of Paul 
in this voyage. He is called Luke, the be- 
loved physician. His history is somewhat 
obscure, and yet deeply interesting. The 
following remarks concerning him, from 
Lardner, are found in Cahners Dictionary. 

u It is probable that he is Lucius, men- 
tioned Rom. 16 : 21. If so, he was related 
to Paul, the apostle. And it is not unlikely 
that that Lucius is the same as Lucius of 
Cyrene, mentioned Acts 13:1; and in gen- 
eral, with others, chapter 11 : 20. It appears 
to me very probable that Luke was a Jew 
by birth, and an early Jewish believer. He 
may also have been one of the two whom 
our Lord met on the way to Emmaus, on 
the day of his resurrection. If he be the 
person intended Col. 4: 14, which is very 
probable, he was or had been by profession, 
a physician. And he was greatly valued 
by the Apostle, who calls him beloved. He 
accompanied Paul, when he first went into 



136 SETS OUT ON HIS RETURN. 



Macedonia. And we know that he went 
with the Apostle from Greece, through 
Macedonia and Asia to Jerusalem, and 
thence to Rome, where he staid with him 
two years of his imprisonment." 

There is only one thing in these conjec- 
tures concerning Luke, from which it is 
necessary to dissent. This is the statement 
that he went with Paul from Greece, on 
the journey through Macedonia, of which 
I have spoken in the beginning of this 
chapter. There is every reason for believ- 
ing that instead of joining him at Greece, 
he did not join him till he came to Philippi, 
in Macedonia. 

Paul and Luke, we have seen, waited at 
Philippi till the seven days of the passover, 
in which the Jews ate only unleavened 
bread, were entirely over. This fact would 
imply, that though converted to Christian- 
ity, the Jews had some regard to their 
peculiar rites and ceremonies. 

They first sailed for Troas. Though the 
distance was only about one hundred and 
fifty miles, and though Paul had before 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 137 

traversed it in two days, they were now on 
the water about five days. The navigation 
of that part of the Mediterranean Sea, is 
said to be very uncertain, at best. In the 
present instance, they were probably de- 
tained by storms or adverse winds. 

They however arrived safely at Troas, 
where they met the seven brethren who 
had gone on before them. Here they re- 
mained several days, during which an 
interesting event occurred, which will form 
the subject of the following chapter. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

Troas was a small city, in a province of 
the same name, not far from the spot 
where old Troy was situated. It is not a 
place of much note, except from its having 
been repeatedly visited and preached in by 
Paul. 

The evangelist, in narrating this story, 
1*# 



138 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

seems to say that the missionary company 
staid at Troas seven days. Now as they 
left there early on Monday morning, it 
would seem to follow that, in order to 
remain there seven days, they must have 
reached there in their journey from Philippi, 
on Monday, also. 

But if they reached Troas on Monday, 
why should they remain there till the fol- 
lowing Sabbath, especially as we find, only 
two or three days after their departure, that 
Paul was in exceeding great haste to reach 
Jerusalem? Why did they not go on as 
far as Ephesus before the Sabbath? There 
would have been ample time for this, and 
probably some to spare. And who can 
doubt that Paul would have greatly pre- 
ferred spending his leisure time, if he had 
any, in Ephesus, rather than in Troas ? 

Now it is worth knowing, that the Jews 
had some modes of speaking which were 
different from ours; Entirely so. We should 
not say of a person who came to visit us 
late in the evening of one day, and left us 
early on the following morning, that he re- 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 139 

mained with us two days. And yet the 
Jews would doubtless have done so, in the 
same circumstances. 

In like manner, we should not say of a 
person who came to see us near the close of 
the week, and departed early on Monday 
morning, that he abode with us seven days. 
Yet such I believe was the frequent lan- 
guage of the Jews. They only intended by 
it, what we should intend by a seven days, 
or, more properly, the seven days. 

Thus in the case before us. Suppose the 
company to have set out from Philippi any 
time on Monday, and to have reached 
Troas at any hour on Friday. They would 
say they were five days on the voyage, 
because the whole period included parts of 
five separate days. But it is also equally 
certain, or nearly so, that if the company 
reached Troas either on Friday or Satur- 
day, and remained there till Monday, they 
would say they abode there seven days, or 
the seven days ; or, as we should perhaps 
express it, they staid out or completed the 
seven days. 



140 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

These remarks, in this place, may not 
seem to us, at first view, as important as 
they really are. For the inquiry may have 
arisen in the mind of many a young person, 
why Paul was in such haste, two or three 
days later, to get to Jerusalem, that he 
could not stop to see the beloved people of 
his late charge, when he could stay a whole 
week at Troas. And is it not important that 
this inquiry should be met ? 

Besides, other instances recur, in the 
New Testament, in which the remarks I 
have here made, if correct, are greatly 
useful, in enabling us to come at the sense 
of the passages, where they occur, to say 
nothing of meeting the objections of the 
skeptical. 

I do not affirm, with certainty, that Paul 
and his company did not stay at Troas a 
whole week, but only that we are not 
driven to this construction of the Bible 
language. The supposition that they did 
not, however, would derive some confirma- 
tion from the general tenor of the narrative. 
For if a company of eight persons so distin- 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 141 

guished, were there a whole six days, be- 
fore the Sabbath came on, what were they 
doing all this time, and why is nothing 
said of their labors till Sunday ] But if 
they arrived late in the week, the whole 
account is natural. 

But let us pass from the uncertain to the 
certain — to the facts in the case. When 
Sunday came, they met together, if they 
had not met before. We see from this 
statement, were this the only one of the 
kind, that the Apostles and first Christians 
met together on the first day of the week : 
and we have reason to believe that this 
missionary band did not, at least on the 
present occasion, meet on the seventh day, 
or Saturday. 

It is said, they came together to break 
bread. It is highly probable that the Apos- 
tles and early Christians celebrated the 
Lord's Supper every Lord's day, that is, 
every Sunday ; -and that this breaking of 
bread, at Troas, was a celebration of the 
kind. It is indeed true that to take a com- 
mon meal is, in the New Testament, some- 



142 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

times called breaking bread ; but here a 
number of persons came together to break 
bread, and this, too, on the first day of the 
week, or Lord's day. 

If there was a church at Troas, they 
doubtless met with the church. If not, 
however, they could still meet by them- 
selves, and a few friends. From the whole 
tenor of the narrative, however, we have 
reason to believe the meeting was largely 
attended. 

Some have supposed the meeting held at 
Troas, on this occasion, for the purpose of 
breaking bread, was held at evening. But 
whether so or not, it was continued very 
late. But let us consider the language of 
the narrative itself. 

ct And upon the first day of the week, 
when the disciples came together to break 
bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to 
depart on the morrow, and continued his 
speech until midnight. And there were 
many lights in the upper chamber where 
they were gathered together. And there 
sat in the window, a certain young man 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 143 

named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep 
sleep. And as Paul was long preaching, 
he fell down from the third loft, and was 
taken up dead." 

From this account, we learn that they 
met in an upper chamber — a room in the 
third story of a building. We learn also 
that Paul preached very late — till the mid- 
dle of the night — and that a young man 
who, while hearing him, had fallen asleep, 
fell from the window, and was killed in- 
stantly by the fall. 

From all the circumstances taken togeth- 
er, moreover, it is but reasonable to infer 
that they met in their usual place of wor- 
ship ; that whether or not they had a 
morning service, this meeting was an eve- 
ning meeting, and that it was, as I have 
elsewhere said, numerously attended. 

One reason for believing it was well 
attended, is because of the accident which 
befell the young man. Why should he sit 
in a window, if there was room enough 
elsewhere ? Another reason for this belief, 
is the fact that Paul preached so long. For 



144 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

though we are not to suppose that what is 
here called preaching, was a continuous 
sermon, but rather a mixture of preaching, 
exhortation, and discussion, yet it is certain 
there were causes for Paul's preaching so 
long. And what more frequent causes for 
a late night meeting, than large numbers 
and deep interest % 

I have spoken of the window, in which 
Eutychus sat. Now most of us are proba- 
bly aware that, at this period, glass win- 
dows had not been used. Glass was hardly 
used for windows before about the year 350 
of the Christian era. Windows were usu- 
ally mere openings in the walls of buildings, 
with doors or blinds to them. In a few 
instances, to be sure, something which was 
partly transparent, as thin plates of horn, 
or agate, or marble, may have been used 
by the wealthy, but in general it was 
not so. 

These windows had a two-fold object — 
to admit air and light. The reason why 
the window was open in the case of Euty- 
chus, doubtless was, that the room was 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 145 

crowded. It could not have been opened 
to admit light at that hour. 

It has been a matter of considerable dis- 
cussion among the learned, for what pur- 
pose it was recorded that there were many 
lights in the chamber where the meeting 
was held. Perhaps one object in making 
such a record, may have been, to show 
that the charge against the early Christians 
that they were in the habit of extinguish- 
ing their lights at their meetings, and then 
committing all sorts of excesses, was un- 
founded and untrue. 

It has also been questioned, with regard 
to Eutychus, whether or not he was really 
dead. Yet on this point I do not think 
there can be any reasonable doubt. The 
natural inference, from the whole account, 
is, that he was dead, and that a miracle 
was wrought to restore him to life. 

For Paul went down, we are further 
told, and fell on the young man, something 
perhaps after the manner of Elisha, in the 
case of the son of the Shunamite, and said 
to those who stood by, " Trouble not your- 
13 



146 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

selves, for his life is in him." And after 
the lapse of a little time, he was indeed 
brought up alive, to the great comfort of 
his friends, and the great joy of all the be- 
holders. 

We may justly wonder how it happened 
that, under the sound of Paul's voice, any 
' one could sleep; or if sleepy, how he could 
be so forgetful of the sacred character of the 
place where he was, and the respect due to 
the speaker, and even to the whole assem- 
bly, as to sleep during a public religious 
meeting. 

Yet, after all, there may have been an 
apology. The late hour of the night and 
the length of the services, were very unu- 
sual, and would, as a general thing, have 
been very objectionable. But Paul was 
there — probably for the last time — a great 
assembly convened, and all were anxious 
to hear him ; and Paul yielded for once, 
and preached to them in their own way, 
and at their own time. 

There are numerous causes for dullness 
and sleepiness in church ; but they can, for 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 147 

the most part, be traced to physical sources. 
Whatever may be the cause, it ought to be 
removed. It is as offensive to God, as it is 
indecorous, and in every respect injurious. 

If the cause is a full stomach, we should 
eat less. If it is the want of sufficient 
sleep at night, we should sleep more, at the 
proper hour. If it is mere indolence, we 
should endeavor to get the better of it, in 
some way or other. 

The religious exercises of the evening 
were of course interrupted by the accident 
which happened, but not long. After Paul 
had given assurance of his restoration, he 
returned, took some refreshment, and fin- 
ished his discourse — not, however, till the 
break of day. 

Some have supposed that the celebration 
of the Lord's Supper had been deferred to 
this time ; but can it be so ? The disci- 
ples — not Paul merely — came together to 
break bread, Ave are informed, but here, in 
the breaking of bread just before day, on 
Monday morning, it does not clearly appear 
that any individual partook of the broken 



143 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

bread but Paul himself. And surely there 
were reasons why Paul would seem to need 
the refreshment more than any one else, 
arising from the exhaustion induced by his 
excessive labors and anxieties. 

When I speak of the anxieties which 
Paul may have felt, and which may have 
been felt by his associates as well as him- 
self, I refer, more particularly, to the posi- 
tion in which he and his disciples stood 
with reference to their enemies. For Paul, 
though a bold man, and without fear for 
himself, was exceedingly tender of the 
reputation and welfare of his fellow men. 

And could he help being aware that he 
was watched by his Trojan foes, and that 
they would be ready to make the most of 
every thing which they could possibly turn 
against the Christians ? Did he not know 
they would make the most of the accident 
which had happened to Eutychus ? 

In order to form any thing like an ade- 
quate idea of the condition of the missiona- 
ries at Troas, in view of the fact that 
Eutychus had fallen and was killed, we 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 149 

must imagine what would be the result in 
similar circumstances now. 

Suppose a company of eight Mormon 
preachers — for we cannot think more unfa- 
vorably of the Mormons, than the people of 
the East did, at first, of Christianity — were 
to stop in one of our New England villages, 
and after obtaining a place, should hold a 
public meeting. They are headed by some 
Smith or Rigdon. 

This circumstance alone would be about 
as much as the mass of the people would 
endure. But it passes. The meeting is 
undisturbed. It is now nine o'clock, and 
the citizens who have brothers, sisters, sons 
and daughters, are expecting their return. 
But they do not come. The meeting con- 
tinues till ten o'clock, and then till eleven. 
Finally it is midnight. 

Now is there one village in three, even in 
our own free states, that would tolerate such 
a meeting — including quite a number of our 
own citizens, as it is supposed the meeting 
at Troas did of the citizens of that place — 
continued till midnight ? I do not believe 
13* 



150 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 



it. I do not indeed undertake to say there 
would be any outrage committed, except in 
here and there an instance ; yet I do think 
there would be but one opinion among the 
inhabitants ; and this would be, that what- 
ever of truth Mormonism might include, its 
preachers ought not to be permitted to hold 
forth any more. 

But the meeting continues, although it is 
past midnight. Some few are ever and 
anon leaving the meeting, but many more 
stay — enchanted by its novelties, or half 
persuaded by the doctrines which are in- 
culcated. Suddenly a strange report comes 
to their ears —a young man is killed. Per- 
haps it comes in the form of naked truth, 
but more probably, with exaggeration. The 
young man is represented as frightened to 
death by the preacher, as pushed out of the 
window by the crowd, or as killed by the 
bad air. 

Or, if the truth were brought to their 
ears, fancy would at once begin the work 
of exaggeration, and the result would be 
about the same. The whole town, so far 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 151 

as awake, would be in a state of commo- 
tion. Some would threaten, and some 
would be in great danger of proceeding to 
open acts of violence. 

Now in this way, with imagination's 
friendly aid, we may be able to form some- 
thing of an idea of the condition of Paul, at 
Troas. Eutychus has fallen, and the 
preaching is of course interrupted for a 
moment. He restores the young man, and 
goes back to his desk. But the news has 
gone abroad, and has produced a good deal 
of excitement, and the excitement is in- 
creasing. And though the young man will 
come forward, ere long, to confront any 
wrong statements concerning the facts, and 
to be a living testimony that the preacher 
is a favorite of Heaven, yet all this will 
require a little time. What, in the agitated 
state of the public mind, may be the conse- 
quence, no one knows, not even Paul him- 
self. 

It is only by bringing home the case to 
our own homes, and firesides, and bosoms, 
that we can form a correct idea of the con- 



152 REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TROAS. 

dition in which Paul and his company were 
placed by this sad accident to Eutychus ; 
and of the responsibilities which devolve 
upon Paul as the leader of the company, 
and of the struggles it must have cost him 
to bear up under his feelings, and continue 
the conversation with those whose hearts 
were touched, until morning. 

And even when Eutychus was restored, 
such is human nature, what had Paul to 
expect of favor from the public prejudices ? 
Would not his enemies gather strength from 
what had happened, and declaim louder 
and louder against the new form of her- 
esy — denouncing evening meetings, extem- 
poraneous preaching, &c, &c. ? 

And though Paul was fully determined 
to take his own course, and do that which 
under all the circumstances he fully be- 
lieved to be right, was he not enough 
acquainted with human nature to be una- 
ble wholly to banish all apprehension about 
the future, both as concerned his company 
and the disciples at Troas ? 

True, he would labor to suppress his 



REMARKABLE INCIDENT AT TR0AS. 153 

fears, for their sake and for his own. He 
would say, and he did, in effect, say, 
11 Trouble not yourselves for fear of conse- 
quences in case Eutychus should die, for 
he shall yet live." He would brace up 
against all the depressing feelings and pas- 
sions ; but even this bracing up against it 
would greatly exhaust him. 

Alas ! how little do the unthinking know 
of the wear and tear of brain and nerves, 
and indeed of the whole system which 
grows out of responsibilities of any sort, but 
especially the responsibilities of Christian 
ministers ! 



154 VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 

The day was now fairly broke, and Paul 
and his company having finished their 
work at Troas, prepared to take their 
leave. One would think they were poorly 
prepared to travel, if they had been up all 
night, and, for a considerable part of the 
time, under the influence of a strong men- 
tal excitement. 

More particularly might we wonder at 
Paul. For, being fond of walking, and 
seeming to forget the labors of the past 
night, this venerable man set out on foot, 
and traveled in this way to Assos — a dis- 
tance, it is believed, of fifteen or twenty 
miles. 

True it is that he had ample time, for the 
route thither by water was exceedingly cir- 



VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 155 

cuitous, rendering the distance, in that way, 
not far from fifty miles. I One would think 
that, if any of the company needed a con- 
veyance more than the rest, except perhaps 
the aged Luke, it was Paul. Yet we see 
what sort of a man he was, by this single 
incident. No wonder we hear him urging 
Timothy, in his letter, to inure himself to 
hardihood. "Thou, therefore, endure hard- 
ness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." He 
was the right man to preach hardness to 
others, for he practiced it himself. 

The vessel in which the company sailed 
arrived, in due time, at Assos, and took 
Paul on board. They did not stay long at 
Assos. It was a place of very little note, 
and there were few, if any, disciples there. 
Besides, it was doubtless no part of their 
purpose to make any stay there. 

I have said that Assos was a place of lit- 
tle consequence. That I may not mislead 
any youthful mind, I will just observe that 
there were several places which went by 
this name. One was in Lycia ; another in 
the territory of Eolis ; another in Mysia ; 



156 VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 

another in Lydia, and another in Epirus. 
The latter is the one of which I have 
spoken above. 

From Assos they proceeded to Mitylene. 
This was the capital of the island of Les- 
bos. It is well known that this part of 
the Mediterranean Sea where they were 
now sailing — called the iEgean Sea, or 
Archipelago — abounded in islands; some of 
them spots of great beauty. Of these, Les- 
bos was one of the largest. It was one 
hundred and sixty-eight miles in circum- 
ference. 

In passing it — for they do not appear to 
have landed there — they had a fine oppor- 
tunity of observing the beauty of its natu- 
ral situation and scenery, and the splendor 
and magnificence of its edifices. Mitylene 
was on the south-east side of the island, 
which, at this point, was separated from 
iEolia, or Mysia, by a strait of only a few 
miles in width. The name of the city of 
Mitylene has been changed, in modern 
times, to Castro ; and the name of the island 
to Metelen. 



VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 157 

This island is distinguished as the birth- 
place of several eminent men of ancient 
times; among whom were Pittacus, the 
sage; Aloeus, the lyric poet; Hellanicus, 
the historian, and Callias, the critic. 

It was said that the missionary company 
did not, probably, land at Mitylene. From 
a careful perusal of the narrative, there is 
much reason to believe they reached there, 
at evening, on the day of their departure 
from Assos, anchored there for the night, 
and left there the next morning. The ves- 
sel, if it was a trading vessel, might have 
business there; but the missionary com- 
pany, Paul in particular, would greatly 
need rest and sleep. 

The reader should have been informed, 
before now, that as they had no knowledge 
in those days of the mariner's compass, and 
therefore had nothing to steer by at sea, 
during the night, except the moon and 
stars, they were under the necessity of sail- 
ing along the shores of every sea they nav- 
igated, as much as possible, and of anchoring 
14 



158 VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 

in some harbor, whenever they could, during 
the night. 

What changes have been made in the 
state of the world, during the last eighteen 
hundred years, in this respect ! Then, by 
the most rapid mode of conveyance — that 
which Paul and his company had now 
availed themselves of — they only traveled 
some sixty to one hundred miles in twenty- 
four hours. I mean to say that this was the 
most they could do, if they stopped during 
the night, which they generally endeavored 
to do. Now we think it a very slow 
progress, in the Mediterranean Sea or any 
where else, if, with a fair wind, we do not 
travel twice or three times that distance. 
And our steam-boats, in crossing the Atlan- 
tic Ocean in twelve days and as many 
nights, must travel, on an average, over 
three hundred miles in twenty-four hours. 

But to return to our missionary voy- 
agers. The next day after they left Assos, 
they went from Mitylene to Chios ; opposite 
to which they passed the night. This 
island lay about half way between Lesbos 



VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 159 

and Samos, seventy miles west of Smyrna, 
and was sometimes called Coos. It does 
not appear that the eastern coast, along 
which they sailed, afforded any good har- 
bors ; but they doubtless succeeded in find- 
ing a place to anchor. 

This island, near which they now were, 
is the famous Scio of modern times. It was 
once famous for its wines. During the 
Grecian revolution, some years since, most 
of its inhabitants were cruelly murdered by 
the Turks. 

The third day they arrived at Samos. 
This is an island of about seventy miles in 
circumference, opposite the Asiatic prov- 
ince of Lydia, and a little south-westward 
of Ephesus. This island was also greatly 
distinguished in ancient times for its wines. 
It was, moreover, the birth-place of the phi- 
losopher, Pythagoras, and of Conon, the 
mathematician. 

This is still a beautiful and somewhat 
flourishing island, containing sixty thou- 
sand inhabitants. The capital is Cora, but 



160 VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 

the largest city is Vathi. The climate is 
peculiarly fine. 

It seems that the vessel containing Paul 
and his company, barely touched here ; for 
they arrived that evening at Trogyllium, 
which was some twelve or twenty miles 
further. Here they spent the night. 

No mention is made of their preaching 
any where, from the time they left Troas. 
There were probably no churches where 
they stopped. Besides, preaching on the 
road seems to have formed no part of their 
plan. 

Trogyllium, where they spent the third 
night, was the name of a city and promon- 
tory of Caria, about twenty-two miles south 
of Ephesus. The town of Trogyllium was 
situated at the mouth of the river Mearder, 
nearly opposite to Samos. 

The fourth day — probably pretty early 
in the day, as the distance was not great — 
they arrived at Miletus. This city was also 
on the main land of the province of Caria. 
It was about forty miles from Ephesus. 

Here they made a longer stay than at 



VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 161 

any other place after leaving Troas. The 
reasons will appear presently. Meanwhile 
let us consider what sort of a place Miletus 
was ; and for what it was, or has been, 
chiefly distinguished. 

Some have confounded Miletum, — where 
Paul says, in one instance, he had left 
Trophimus sick, — with Miletus. But they 
were most certainly two distinct places. 
Miletum was on the island of Crete. 
Whereas Miletus was, as I have just 
shown, on the coast of Asia Minor. 

The city is said to have been built by 
Miletus, a son of Apollo, and to have been 
peopled by a colony from Crete. It was the 
capital of all the ancient Ionia. It had a 
fine harbor, and much navigation. 

The spirit of colonization prevailed among 
the Milesians to an astonishing extent. Sen- 
eca says they planted, in various parts of the 
world, no fewer than three hundred and 
eighty colonies. They certainly planted a 
very large number of these colonies, and no 
one reckons it at less than eighty. 

It is also celebrated as being the birth- 
14* 



162 VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 

place of Thales, one of the wise men of 
Greece ; of Anaximander, his scholar ; of 
Timotheus, the musician ; of Anaximenes, 
the philosopher, and of Cadmus, the orator. 
It contained, moreover, a magnificent tem- 
ple to Apollo. 

Such was the city to which Paul and his 
company had now come, and such the 
place in which they were to make a short 
tarry. Yet even his stay here for a day or 
two, was chiefly to avoid stopping longer 
at another place, namely, Ephesus. 

The Evangelist informs us that Paul, 
who, it seems, had in some good measure 
the control of the ship, # was determined not 



* If any one is at a loss to know how it happened 
that Paul had so much control over the vessel in which 
he and his companions sailed, I have only to say that 
I suppose it was by virtue of contract at setting out. 
Besides furnishing nine passengers, it is certainly pos- 
sible he furnished a good deal of freight. For it 
should not be forgotten that he had been a long time 
urging the Grecian and Macedonian churches to lay 
by, in store, the first day of the week, according as 
God had prospered them, that it might be ready for 



VOYAGE FROM TROAS TO EPHESUS. 163 

to stop at Ephesus, lest his numerous ac- 
quaintances there should detain him longer 
than would be desirable. For the day of 
Pentecost was now near, and he wished to 
be in Jerusalem at the time of that celebra- 
ted feast, to meet and do good in the great 
assembly which would be convened on that 
occasion. 

Some may be led to suppose that Paul 
was not willing to expose his person in 
Ephesus ; but such a fear would be incom- 
patible with his general known character. 
The reasons for his not going there, have 
been faithfully mentioned by the Evangel- 
ist, and were, beyond a doubt, those above 
given. 



him when he came. Will any one suppose that 
neither Erastus and Timothy, nor Paul, obtained col- 
lections which were not money 1 Would they not 
have much clothing, provisions, and other neces- 
saries 1 



164 AN AFFECTING MEETING. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

AN AFFECTING MEETING. 

Though Paul had decided not to stop at 
Ephesus, he was unwilling to go farther 
without hearing from the church there. 
Accordingly he sent to them from Miletus, 
to come down and see him. The church 
promptly responded to his call, and sent 
down their elders, or overseers. The meet- 
ing of Paul with these elders was a most 
affecting one, and his address to them, one 
of the most remarkable on record. 

This address, in some of its particulars, 
has been already anticipated. Still I think 
it best to insert it entire. It can neither be 
abridged nor extracted from, without doing 
injustice to the speaker. It is as follows : 

"Ye know, from the first day that I 
came into Asia, after what manner I have 



AN AFFECTING MEETING. 165 

been with you at all seasons, serving the 
Lord with all humility of mind, and with 
many tears and temptations which befell 
me by the lying in wait of the Jews. 

" And how I kept back nothing that was 
profitable unto you, but have showed you 
and taught you publicly, and from house to 
house, testifying both to the Jews, and also 
to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and 
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 

" And now behold I go bound, in the 
spirit, to Jerusalem, not knowing the things 
that shall befall me there; save that the 
Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying 
that bonds and afflictions abide me. But 
none of these things move me, neither 
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I 
might finish my course with joy, and the 
ministry which I have received of the Lord 
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace 
of God. 

"And now behold I know that ye all 
among whom I have gone, preaching the 
kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 
Wherefore I take you to record, this day, 



166 AN AFFECTING MEETING. 

that I am pure from the blood of all men. 
For I have not shunned to declare unto 
you all the counsel of God. 

" Take heed therefore, unto yourselves, 
and to all the flock over whom the Holy 
Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the 
church of God which he hath purchased 
with his own blood. For I know this, that 
after my departure shall grievous wolves 
enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 
Also of your own selves shall men arise 
speaking perverse things, to draw away 
disciples after them. 

" Therefore watch, and remember that 
by the space of three years I ceased not to 
warn every one, night and day, with tears. 
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, 
and to the word of his grace, which is able 
to build you up, and to give you an inher- 
itance among all them which are sanctified. 

" I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, 
or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that 
these hands have ministered unto my neces- 
sities, and to them that were with me. I 
have showed you all things, how that so 



AN AFFECTING MEETING. 167 

laboring, ye ought to support the weak, 
and to remember the words of the Lord 
Jesus, how he said, ' It is more blessed to 
give than to receive.' " 

One might almost be tempted, at first, to 
say of this remarkable address, that it con- 
tains exaggerated statements. For is there 
any mere man, who for three years has 
done what Paul here asserts ? Yet we 
must believe it. His statements were made 
to men who knew whether they were or 
were not true ; and to them he appeals. 
He says, " Ye knoio ;" and again, " Ye 
yourselves know" &c. 

But what had they known ? Why, 
surely his manner of life. He had served 
the Lord with "all humility." He had 
11 kept back nothing that was profitable." 
He had taught both in public, and " from 
house to house." He had declared "all 
the counsel of God." For almost three 
years he " had not ceased to warn every 
one, night and day, with tears." So far 
had he been from coveting their money or 
clothing — and these were among the prin- 



168 AN AFFECTING MEETING. 

cipal items of property in those days — he 
had by means of his hands, ministered to 
his'own necessities, and to the necessities of 
those with him. He had taught them to 
minister to the wants of the poor and weak, 
and had not only taught this, but set the 
example. Finally, he could say, " Where- 
fore I take you to record this day that I am 
pure from the blood of all men." 

Now I affirm with much assurance, that 
there is not one minister in a thousand, who 
can say so much as this of his intercourse 
with the people of his charge, for so long a 
period even as one month ! Who is pure 
from the blood of all souls ? Who has 
warned continually, "night and day," with 
tears ? 

The address was followed by prayer, in 
which Paul is said to have kneeled. Was 
this the common custom of the early Christ- 
ians? We find this posture mentioned 
again, on the arrival of the company at 
Ptolemais. From these and similar pas- 
sages, one would almost be willing to sub- 



AN AFFECTING MEETING. 169 

scribe to the views of Barnes, in his Notes 
on the passage before us. His words are : 

" He kneeled down. The usual attitude 
of prayer. It is the proper posture of a 
suppliant. It indicates reverence and hu- 
mility, and is represented in the Scriptures 
as the common attitude of devotion." 



15 



170 THE FAREWELL. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE FAREWELL. 

The separation of Paul and his company 
from these Christian elders, or overseers, of 
Ephesus, after having prayed with them 
all, is so remarkable for the affection and 
tenderness it exhibits, that I have called it, 
by way of eminence, the separation, or 
" the farewell." 

The Scriptures abound with pictures, so 
to speak, of tender, and I may say, touch- 
ing scenes, yet I know of but few like this, 
at Miletus. The account is brief, but yet 
ample. It is in the most simple, unstudied 
language ; yet no child can fail to under- 
stand its true meaning. 

" And when he had thus spoken, he 
kneeled down and prayed with them all. 
And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's 



THE FAREWELL. 171 

neck, and kissed him; sorrowing most of 
all for the words which he spake, that they 
should see his face no more. And they ac- 
companied him unto the ship." 

Most of us have had opportunity to wit- 
ness the separation of some little band of 
missionaries from their friends, in the pros- 
pect of meeting no more this side the eter- 
nal world. We have followed the crowd 
that had assembled to witness their depart- 
ure to the wharf; have seen them go on 
board the vessel ; have witnessed the relig- 
ious exercises that followed, and the final 
parting. The scene was melting and ten- 
der, beyond the power of language to 
express. 

We have witnessed the separation of 
families, in the more ordinary concerns of 
life. A son, who is young and inexperi- 
enced, is to encounter for years the dangers, 
physical and moral, of a voyage at sea. A 
father is about to go to a foreign country, 
with the feeble, yet encouraging expecta- 
tion of recovering his health. Or a family 
in moderate circumstances is about to tear 



172 THE FAREWELL. 

away from home, and friends, and rela- 
tives, to bury itself, as it were, in the u far 
west" — at least with no reasonable expec- 
tation, on the part of the aged members 
thereof, that they shall ever again behold 
the faces of those whom they leave behind. 

Now these scenes, or scenes not unlike 
these, some of us have witnessed — perhaps 
all of us ; and they have moved us. And 
well they might move us. We were made 
that they should have this effect. We 
were made not only to rejoice with those 
who rejoice, but to w T eep with those who 
weep. 

And yet I must still say, that for myself 
I have never witnessed any thing, nor read 
of any thing, which exceeds for tenderness 
this separation — this farewell scene at Mi- 
letus. Others may have done so ; but if 
so, their lot has been greatly different from 
my own. 

The separation at Ephesus itself — when 
Paul left his people to go to Europe — was 
affecting, exceedingly so. It was the sepa- 
ration of a father, and more than a father, 



THE FAREWELL. 173 

from his children. Paul " embraced them," 
we are told, and departed. But we are not 
told that they embraced him, that they, 
severally, fell on his neck and kissed him, 
and wept sore. 

Not that the mass of the Ephesian disci- 
ples, more than elders, were wanting in 
affection or respect ; far enough from it. 
But the separation was not considered, 
then, as we have reason to believe, a final 
separation. In any event, it does not seem 
to have been so considered. It appears to 
have been their expectation that he would 
come to them again, as well as Paul's own 
purpose. 

But now, for reasons not well known to 
us, his hopes of being able to meet them 
again were all gone. He felt it his duty to 
be at Jerusalem, at all hazards, and at all 
sacrifices, at Pentecost ; and yet, as we 
shall see in the next chapter, he felt an 
assurance that he was to be peculiarly 
exposed to danger there, and perhaps com- 
pelled to give up his life. 

Different nations, and, to some extent, 
* 15* 



174 THE FAREWELL. 

different ages of the world, have their dif- 
ferent customs. In some countries, the 
custom which prevailed in Paul's time still 
exists— that of embracing each other at the 
moment of friendly separation. In New 
England, and indeed throughout the United 
States, it is less common than in many 
other countries. Yet it is always, as it 
seems to me, appropriate. 

Who has not read, with emotion, the 
affecting account of the meeting of Joseph 
and his aged father, at Goshen, in Egypt ? 
Hardly any thing which only concerns two 
individuals, could be more deeply so. They 
met, it is true, under peculiar circumstances. 
But, after all, it was a meeting, and not a 
farewell. 

Not unlike this is the meeting of the 
father, as recorded by Luke, with the prod- 
igal son. The father, in that instance, met 
the son a great way from the paternal roof, 
fell on his neck, and kissed him. It is — 
were it to be regarded as purely fictitious — 
a most touching description. 

But the elders of Ephesus were assured, 



THE FAREWELL. 175 



most confidently, all of them, that they 
would see Paul's face no more. Had he 
not said, " Ye all among whom I have 
gone," &c.j the case would not have been 
so trying, nor the parting so painful. There 
would have been some hope. Though many 
long years might perchance intervene, there 
might yet be another meeting. But no: 
the farewell was to be final. They were to 
meet no more, till they met to be presented 
to Christ, by their spiritual and dearest 
earthly father. 

"They accompanied him unto the ship/' 5 
Not as a formality, merely: their hearts 
went with them. They felt as they acted, 
and acted as they felt. They wished to 
enjoy his society as long as they could. 
And they did so. For the story of their 
separation does not end with the verse I 
have just quoted. These Bible divisions 
into chapters, very often break in upon the 
sense, and I think this does. 

" And it came to pass." says the narra- 
tor of the story — the author of the Acts of 
the Apostles — " that when we were gotten 



176 THE FAREWELL. 

from them" — the Ephesian elders — "and 
had launched," &c. Scott says this pas- 
sage might be rendered, " And it came to 
pass that embarking, having been torn 
from them," &c. 

This, in my view, is a correct repre- 
sentation of the farewell. The parties were 
torn asunder ; or rather, Paul was obliged 
to tear himself away from them. We shall 
see presently, if we have not already seen 
it, that Paul had feelings, as well as other 
men. 

It is worth while to mention, in this 
place, the exceeding great modesty of the 
sacred writers, and of Luke among the rest. 
He says of the Ephesian elders, they " ac- 
companied him to the ship." Why does he 
not say us, rather than him ? Would it 
not have been strictly true ? What profane 
writer, who had accompanied his hero as 
much as Luke had Paul, and who respected 
him as much, would not come in for a share 
of the honor, when it would seem as if he 
might without doing any one else injustice? 
Yet are we sure such a representation, 



THE FAREWELL. 177 

though in a certain sense true, would have 
been quite so true as it now is ? Who does 
not know how often our minds are so much 
engrossed by the principal object of our 
affection, that we seem to forget, for the 
moment — perhaps do forget — the respect 
due to others ? 

I have no doubt, that in these moments 
of painful separation, the Ephesian elders 
actually overlooked, if they did not practi- 
cally forget, the rest of the missionary com- 
pany; even the aged and venerable Luke 
himself. I have not a doubt that they did, 
literally, accompany Paul, in their walk 
from the house to the vessel — that they 
hung upon him, as children upon a depart- 
ing, I had almost said, dying father, eager 
to catch his last words, and perhaps receive 
his final benediction; and that they paid 
little, if any attention to the rest of the com- 
pany, how much soever they esteemed 
them. 

Luke, therefore, if this conjecture is cor- 
rect, just relates the fact, as it was, and 
makes no comments. Nor do I believe he 



178 THE FAREWELL. 

felt the disposition to make any. He knew 
what human nature was, and made every 
allowance. Perhaps a similar scene had 
but jiist now been acted over with respect 
to himself at Philippi — in which Paul was 
almost, or quite as much forgotten as he 
had been, and his brethren with him, in the 
present instance. 

In any event, we may properly speak — 
and we ought to do it — of Luke's great 
modesty. He takes no pains to range him- 
self alongside of his hero ; but, like the rest 
of his associates in preparing the Divine 
Records — particularly John — his sole ob- 
ject appears to be to relate the facts as they 
occurred, without the slightest reserve or 
misconstruction. Were it the place for it, 
might I not enlarge here, on the weight of 
this argument — the honesty of the sacred 
writers — in favor of the Divine inspiration 
of the Holy Scriptures ? 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 179 



CHAPTER XX. 

RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

The parting scene is at length over. The 
missionaries are all on board, and the 
elders of Ephesus, with aching hearts and 
drooping heads, are leaving the vessel to go 
on shore. The anchors are taken up, the 
sails are spread, and the^voyage is re-com- 
menced. 

Our imagination may be indulged a little 
farther. We may fancy to ourselves the 
little Ephesian band still standing on the 
sea-shore, as if unwilling to leave the spot. 
Now they raise their eyes to catch another 
look at the vessel, which carries within it a 
treasure richer to them than all else earthly. 
Now their eyes, suffused with tears, refuse 
to look any longer. 

But all is over. They have given the 



180 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

last, last longing, lingering look ; and that 
in vain. The little bark far distant in the 
south, has disappeared. First its hull 
seemed to sink behind the distant waves ; 
next its rigging and sails, and finally its 
highest top. The eye now rests on the 
vast expanse ; not a sail is to be seen. 

The elders return to their homes, the 
travelers are wafted in the opposite direc- 
tion. Some of the missionaries may seem 
to go in a homeward direction — such as 
Paul, Gaius, and Timothy — yet even these 
were not really going home, so far as we 
can learn. They are more probably going 
with Paul to Jerusalem — for aught they 
can know, to suffer with him. 

There is a sense in which the missionary 
may be said to have no home at all. Christ, 
the missionary of missionaries, had not 
where to lay his head. And yet in another 
point of view, the missionary has always a 
home wherever he is. The world is his 
home. It is home to him wherever he can 
do good — wherever he can make better the 
meanest of God's creatures. He loves his 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 181 

fellow man, however fallen and degraded 
his condition, with an intensity which the 
great mass of the unthinking and unfeeling 
in the world, know nothing of. 

The missionary vessel steered directly 
south, and having it is supposed, a fair 
wind, arrived that evening at the island of 
Coos — some sixty or seventy miles from 
Miletus, where they anchored for the night. 

This is the same island which is else- 
where, in the New Testament called Coos. 
I have said that Chios or Scio was in some 
instances called by the same name, but I 
believe this was rare. Coos, at which our 
travelers were arrived, is not a very large 
island. It is known, now, by the name of 
Stanco. 

The following day — the wind being still 
fair, — they proceeded to Rhodes, seventy or 
eighty miles farther. Here, at Rhodes, they 
probably spent the night. 

The island of Rhodes is situated near the 
southwestern extremity of Asia Minor, be- 
tween the main land, and the larger island 
of Crete. Its distance from the latter is 
16 



182 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

about seventy-five miles. Rhodes is forty 
miles long, and fifteen broad. The Greeks 
called it Ophiusa, or the land of serpents — 
because these reptiles abounded there. Its 
principal towns were Rhodes, Lindus, Ca- 
mirus and Jalysus. 

The city of Rhodes — the capital of the 
island — was once famous for its Colossus, or 
bronze image of Apollo. This image which 
stood at the mouth of the harbor, was sev- 
enty cubits, and its legs fifty feet apart, so 
that vessels could sail between them. It is 
said to have contained seven hundred and 
twenty thousand pounds of brass, and to 
have cost nearly three hundred talents. 

After standing sixty years, this statue 
was overthrown by an earthquake, and 
never replaced. The broken fragments lay 
on the ground about nine hundred years, 
when the brass part of the statue was sold 
to a Jew, who, it is said, loaded nine hun- 
dred camels with it. 

The modern city of Rhodes is only three 
miles in diameter — formerly it was nine. 
It is surrounded by a triple wall, and is 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 183 

pleasantly situated on the northeast part of 
the island. The missionaries probably spent 
the night in the harbor of Rhodes; but the 
image was not standing there then; it had 
been thrown down about three hundred 
years. 

The next day they went as far as Patara, 
a city of Lycia, where they probably passed 
the night. Here they left the vessel, in 
which they had set out, and entered an- 
other, bound to Tyre. If Timothy and 
Gaius were going to Derbe and Lystra, and 
not to Jerusalem, here was a convenient 
place for them to disembark, especially as 
their course was around the southern side 
of the island of Cyprus. But whether they 
left, cannot now be determined. 

From Patara, they sailed without acci- 
dent or delay, to Tyre. How long they 
were in performing the journey the writer 
of the Acts does not tell us. One would 
think they must have been about two days 
in reaching Paphos, or the southwestern 
part of Cyprus; and that after spending a 
night there, it would take two days more 



184 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

to reach Tyre. The whole distance was 
about four hundred miles. 

This, however, is conjecture. Luke says, 
u When we had discovered Cyprus, we left 
it on the left hand; more than implying 
that they did not stop there, although 
Paphos was nearly on a right line from Pa- 
tara to Tyre. Perhaps it was fine weather 
with clear nights, and they were anxious 
to make all possible haste lest storms 
should come on and detain them. Perhaps 
too, they could not prevail with the owner 
of the ship to go in any other direction or 
manner. 

The island of Cyprus which they passed, 
is one hundred and fifty miles long, and 
seventy broad, and was the birthplace of 
Barnabas. Here Paul and he had trav- 
eled, at setting out on the first foreign apos- 
tolic mission; and here it was that Paul 
wrought his miracle on the wicked sorcerer 
Elymas, and converted to the Christian 
faith Sergius Paulus, the governor. 

But they arrived, in due time, at Tyre ; 
having escaped, as there is reason to believe, 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 185 

all the storms of those seas, and made the 
whole journey from Assos to Tyre, in about 
ten or twelve days, exclusive of their de- 
tention at Miletus — whereas they might 
have been detained on their voyage by ad- 
verse circumstances, several weeks, if not 
several months. 

Their voyage must now have been con- 
sidered as chiefly over ; for they could 
easily pursue the remainder of it by land if 
necessary. Or if they still preferred going 
by sea, the whole distance to Cesarea was 
but little more than a hundred miles. 

Tyre, so famed in ancient history, where 
the missionaries now were, was once dis- 
tinguished above all the cities of the East, 
both for its arts and manufactures, and its 
commerce. Its ships covered the sea ; its 
trade was with almost all the rest of the 
globe ; and its sailors and artisans were the 
best in the world. 

In the days of its greatest glory, Tyre 

was eighteen miles in circumference. The 

ancient city, however, did not stand where 

the modern one does, but on a hill on the 

16* 



186 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

main land, nearly opposite. Modern Tyre 
stands on an island. Sidon is twenty-seven 
miles southward of it. 

But I have not spoken of the reception 
which the missionaries met with in Tyre. 
This was exceedingly cordial. They tar- 
ried there a few days — long enough for the 
vessel to unload — for here she was to dis- 
charge her cargo. 

The narrative says, as it did of their stay 
at Assos, they tarried here " seven days." 
Perhaps they actually staid here the whole 
time, as we should reckon it, especially as 
the danger of delay was over, and they had 
time enough to reach Jerusalem seasonably, 
even if they stopped a week or two on the 
road. I must still say, however, that there 
is no certainty in regard to the matter. 

While the company remained at Tyre, 
hospitably entertained by the Christians 
there, some of the more eminent and highly 
gifted of them admonished Paul not to go 
to Jerusalem at all. They seem to have 
been moved of the Holy Spirit, and the 
warning was probably received as from 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 187 

God. But Paul was determined to go, at 
all hazards. 

Here again, on resuming their journey, a 
scene was witnessed, not unlike that of a 
few days before at Miletus, When they 
left the city, the disciples there, with wives 
and children, all accompanied them to 
the wharf where the vessel lay, when they 
again knelt and prayed. 

It is not to be expected that they should 
exhibit so much tender feeling as ^Yas ex- 
hibited by the Ephesian Elders at Miletus. 
The relation between Paul and them was 
not the same. In the one case, Paul was 
regarded as a father, in general, and highly 
esteemed ; in the other he was their pastor 
and brother — such a pastor and brother, 
too, for faithfulness, as the world has sel- 
dom seen. Yet the parting, even here, at 
Tyre, was deeply affecting. 

One thought deserves to be added, in this 
place, about kneeling in prayer. I am not 
by any means as tenacious in my opinion 
on this subject as many people are ; and 
yet I am compelled to think there is much 



1SS RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

in Scripture in favor of a kneeling posture. 
We have already seen that this was the 
posture at Miletus. True all who knelt at 
Miletus were men, but then they probably 
knelt on the ground. At Tyre there were 
men, women and children, and yet it is ex- 
pressly said, "they kneeled down on the 
shore." It is obvious they did not feel the 
full force of some of the objections made, in 
these days to such a posture ; and among 
other things that it is uncleanlyj or un- 
seemly. 

Scott, in his notes on the circumstances 
connected with the prayer at this separa- 
tion, says: "It is most evident from this 
circumstance, that kneeling was the general 
posture for public and social prayer in the 
primitive church, otherwise this company 
would scarcely have used it in so inconve- 
nient a situation. The testimony of Barnes 
on this point, has been adduced elsewhere. 

The farewell which followed the social 
prayer on the sea shore of Tyre, is as re- 
markable almost as the prayer, because it 
shows that the Spirit of Inspiration does 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 189 

not wholly despise little things, even the 
manner in which a company of Christians 
take leave of each other. This was mani- 
fest in the case at Miletus; and is equally 
so here. The evangelist speaks of their 
taking leave " one of another." 

Passing by Sidon, they came next to Ptol- 
emais, originally Accho, and now Akka. 
Here were some converts to Christianity. 
These they embraced, in the usual manner, 
and gave them the other customary tokens 
of affection and esteem. Here they spent 
one day, or at least a part of one day ; but 
whether they preached either here or at 
Tyre, is not certain. I know not why they 
should not have preached at Tyre, if not at 
Ptolemais. 

Akka is situated on the north side of a 
small bay of the Mediterranean Sea, and is 
still a considerable place. By some the 
population is estimated at about twenty 
thousand. It is well fortified. In the days 
of Bonaparte, it sustained a very severe 
siege; but is much stronger now than it 
was then. 



190 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

From Ptolemais they proceeded to Cesa- 
rea, a distance of thirty-six miles. Here 
they landed, with a view to go by land the 
rest of the way. Jerusalem is about sixty 
miles southeastward of Cesarea. 

Cesarea, at the time of the arrival of the 
missionaries, was quite a distinguished 
place — the seat of the Roman governors of 
Palestine. Here lived Cornelius the Roman 
centurion, and here it was that Herod the 
king was smitten with a strange disease — 
the punishment it was believed of his great 
wickedness — and here he died. 

Here also dwelt Philip the Evangelist, 
who had been originally one of the seven 
deacons. After he was driven from Jeru- 
salem by persecution, he had preached for 
a time in Samaria, and been the means of 
a great revival of religion there. From 
Samaria he went towards Gaza ; and when 
in the neighborhood of Gaza met with, and 
converted and baptized the Ethiopian eu- 
nuch. Thence he had turned back preach- 
ing on his way, till he came to Cesarea, 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 191 

where for twenty-seven years he had now 
resided. 

During this long period and perhaps sev- 
eral years before it, he had become the 
father of a somewhat numerous family. 
Among these were four unmarried daugh- 
ters, who devoted themselves wholly to the 
Lord, and were called prophets or teachers. 
A singular circumstance, indeed, to find so 
many females of this particular description, 
in a single family. 

When Paul and his company arrived, 
they forthwith went to the house of Philip, 
the Evangelist, and made it their home. 
Philip's house was doubtless always open 
to guests like these ; and perhaps some of 
the company had before now partaken of 
his hospitalities. 

How long time they remained at Philip's 
house, the record does not inform us, but 
probably not more than a week or two. 
The day of Pentecost, though not yet ar- 
rived, was evidently not far distant. 

While they were there, a prophet came 
down from Jerusalem to Cesarea, by the 



192 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

name of Agabus. It was the same Agabus 
who had foretold the dearth spoken of in 
the eleventh chapter of Acts — " which came 
to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar." 
He was evidently a true prophet, and was 
received as such by the disciples of Christ. 

When he arrived at Cesarea, and had 
joined the company at Philip's, he took 
Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and 
feet, and said; "Thus saith the Holy 
Ghost. So shall the Jews at Jerusalem 
bind the man that owneth this girdle, and 
shall deliver him into the hands of the 
Gentiles." 

This striking prediction was at once un- 
derstood, and applied by the missionaries to 
Paul. Perhaps, too, they coupled with it, 
in their minds, the urgent request of the 
disciples, whom they met with at Tyre. 
They took the alarm at once, and earnestly 
entreated Paul not to go to Jerusalem. To 
their entreaties they seemed to have joined 
their tears. 

The brethren at Cesarea, when they 
knew what had happened, united their 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 193 

earnest request to that of his own company. 
From what follows in the reply of Paul, 
one might naturally enough think they 
charged him with rashness, or fool-hardi- 
ness ; or at least with the want of a proper 
respect to the feelings and wishes of his 
dear friends. 

For when amid their importunity they 
gave him an opportunity to speak, " What 
mean ye," said he, "to weep, and to break 
mine heart ? for I am ready not to be bound 
only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the 
name of the Lord Jesus." 

Such a spirit as this, of Paul, is by no 
means a spirit of obstinacy. It is a spirit 
which the world knows little of — that spirit 
which grows out of, or is manifested in con- 
nection with a strong determination to do 
what is believed to be right. It is, in truth, 
the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Paul believed, from the best evidence 
within his reach, that he ought to go to Je- 
rusalem. True, he would be exposed to the 
malice of his foes there, as well as else- 
where, and perhaps more than elsewhere. 
17 



194 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

Yet this last was not certain. They were 
ready to lie in ambush for him abroad, 
whenever he was long enough in one place 
to give them time to concert their plans ; 
what more could they do at home, even in 
Jerusalem? 

They would behold such a spirit— the 
manifestations rather, of such a spirit — and 
call it by the hard name of obstinacy. 
Nebuchadnezzar thought Shadrach, Me- 
shach and Abednego obstinate. Farther 
back than this, the children of Israel thought 
Moses and Aaron obstinate, because they 
would not retrace their steps. The wife of 
Potiphar thought Joseph obstinate. And 
the beholders of every class and nation 
doubtless thought Peter and John obstinate 
when they said to their persecutors, "We 
cannot but speak the things we have seen 
and heard," and governed themselves ac- 
cordingly.^ 



* Yet some of these at least — the beloved apostle 
John — notwithstanding his determination, was tender- 
hearted. We may be assured that both he and Paul 
had hearts. 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 195 

When it was found by Paul's company 
and the Cesarean brethren, that he could 
not be moved from his purpose, to visit Je- 
rusalem, they ceased to urge him, and only- 
said, " The will of the Lord be done." 
Meanwhile they began to prepare for their 
departure. 

They took up their carriages, it is said, 
and went up to Jerusalem. They who 
have compared Scripture with Scripture 
but little, might wonder at the strange 
expression here about taking up their car- 
riages. Whereas it is found to mean noth- 
ing more than that they put their baggage, 
or whatever they had to carry with them, 
in order, for their journey. 

Whether they walked or rode to Jeru- 
salem, Luke does not tell us. Perhaps for 
Luke's sake, who I again say, was quite 
old, and for the sake of expedition they 
rode. This, however, was not Paul's usual 
method of traveling in Palestine. Thou- 
sands of miles — perhaps tens of thousands — 
were traveled by him in this humble 
manner. 



196 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

Several of the disciples of Christ at Cesa- 
rea, accompanied the missionaries to Jeru- 
salem. Among them was a citizen of Je- 
rusalem, whose name was Mnason. This 
man kindly proposed to receive them to his 
house, when they arrived, and they gladly 
accepted the invitation. 

If the company walked to Jerusalem, it 
must have taken them two days or more to 
perform the journey. If they rode, it might 
of course shorten the time a little. And 
yet after all, not very much ; for the roads 
were not good in the dry est season; and in 
the wet or rainy season, were frequently 
very bad. 

The only place of much importance or 
interest they passed — so far as I can ascer- 
tain — was Antipatris. This was twenty- 
six miles from Cesarea, and forty-two from 
Jerusalem. To this place Paul was brought 
from Jerusalem by night, some time after- 
ward, a prisoner, on his road back to Ces- 
area. 

At length they reached Jerusalem, and 
were gladly received by their Christian 



RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 197 

friends and brethren. Whether the contri- 
butions from Greece and Macedonia, came 
before, icith, or after them, these too, were 
no doubt very acceptable. The company 
was entertained, as it was before stated, 
they were to be, at the house of Mnason. 

Paul had been absent from Jerusalem 
about four years. Great changes must have 
taken place, during his long absence. 
James the apostle was however, still there, 
having never been driven away. Paul took 
an early opportunity to call and see him, 
and to introduce to him his brethren, both 
of Europe and Asia. 

As it would be natural to expect, a meet- 
ing was soon held, at which Paul gave an 
account of the state of Christianity in the 
countries he had visited. It is by no means 
unlikely that there were prejudices in the 
minds of some of the Christians at Jeru- 
salem, against Paul ; and such a meeting 
would not only be deeply interesting to all 
who loved the Lord Jesus Christ, but a 
means of removing such prejudices. 

The results of the meeting were singu- 
18 



198 RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 

larly happy. They glorified the Lord, and 
rejoiced that the rich blessings of his gospel 
had been extended to the Gentile world, 
and that so many thousands had already 
believed, and obeyed the truth, and were 
walking in it. 

And yet according to the prediction of 
Agabus, and others, so it came to pass. 
The unbelieving Jews soon contrived to 
raise a/persecution against Paul, which 
encLgtf in his imprisonment, and finally in 
his being carried to Rome for his trial. It 
was in this voyage to Rome he was ship- 
wrecked. 

I have now concluded what pertains to 
the third and last foreign mission of the 
great Apostle of the Gentile world. His 
other labors, before and after this mission, 
must be sought elsewhere. Happily they 
are to be found both in the original — the 
Acts of the Apostles — and in the books 
which like this volume — have been com- 
piled from them. 

H 149 82<i 

THE END. 




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